


The Three Letters And Six Etiquettes: or, Marriage Unites Two Houses

by OurImpavidHeroine



Series: The Abdication of Hou-Ting LIV or: How Wu Learned to Stop Being Foolish and Love the Detective [16]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: As well as canonical murder, Canonical Character Death, Chapter 8 contains a lot of heavy material, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Other, Please see Chapter 8's notes for more information, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Post-Series, Romance, The rest of it is pretty fluffy though!, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2018-11-17 14:54:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11277591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OurImpavidHeroine/pseuds/OurImpavidHeroine
Summary: The Wedding of the Century!





	1. The First Etiquette: Proposing Marriage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wu proposes marriage; his intended has no parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally posted as [A Secluded Unveiling: The Imperial Hunting Lodge](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8306261/chapters/19023130) in the Tales of Republic City: Part Two collection.

"So you can find it?"

"I can read a map, Wu."

"Well, I certainly can't!"

"That's why I'm the one driving. And before you ask, yes, I remembered the lunch. And the blanket. And the umbrellas in case it rains."

Wu beamed at Qi from the passenger's seat. "It's like an adventure!"

Qi shifted gears and smiled. "If you say so."

"Anything could be out there!"

"I thought you said it was a house." Qi passed another car and turned northeast on the road that would lead them out of Republic City.

"Well, I might remind you that I call our house a house and whenever I do it you roll your eyes at me."

Qi took Qi's eyes off the road to deliberately roll them at Wu before looking back at the road again, smirking a little. "Is that your idea of a suit you can go exploring in?"

Wu looked down at his suit. "What? It's brown, isn't it? I thought it might get dirty. Brown doesn't show dirt, right? Qi Hou-Ting! You stop laughing at me this very instant!"

They drove for nearly two and a half hours, Qi pulling over twice to consult the map they'd brought, once backtracking in reverse for ten minutes to turn a different way. They finally bumped their slow way down a rutted dirt road that eventually led to a tall stone wall, still in fairly good condition. It was split in the middle with an iron gate, centered with the sigil of the Earth Monarchy, blanketed in rust. "This must be it," Qi said, hopping out of the car to study the gate. "It's locked, though." 

Wu came to stand there as well. "Gracious. I never even thought about it. I don't think anyone's been out here since my great-great-grandfather's day. I didn't even know anything about it until I went through those old deeds in my office. I realized I had no clear idea of what I owned and what I didn't beyond the obvious."

"Imperial Hunting Lodge, hmm?" Qi frowned at the lock. "I can either try to break it or we could climb over the wall."

Wu's eyes widened as he looked up at the wall. "Well, goodness, I can't attempt that thing! You could, but certainly not me. Well, just break it, I suppose. We can always get someone out here to fix it later."

"Hang on." Qi tossed the newsboy cap Qi was wearing back into the car before grabbing at the wall, boots scrabbling until they found toeholds in the rocks. Qi scaled up the wall and then dropped to the other side, hitting the ground with a thud and a roll.

"Oh, Qi! Are you all right?" Wu peered anxiously through the metal bars. Qi waved at him, and frowning, reached inside a niche in the rock, straining a bit with the effort. With a horrible screeching noise the gate began to open. "Oh, you are so clever! Here, I can get through now." Wu walked into the property and dusted himself off a bit.

"How far does the driveway go?" Qi shaded Qi's eyes with a hand and peered into the forested gloom. "I don't see any sign of the house. Are you sure it's still here?"

"I'm not sure about any of this. The only reason I knew it was the Imperial Hunting Lodge at all is because I remember something Kuei had written in his journals about it. I think it was completely abandoned when Kuei's father was assassinated and that was over a hundred years ago." He trotted after Qi as Qi started to walk down the weed-choked drive. "I don't believe this was even meant for cars, was it?"

Qi's head shook. "No, this is all cobblestone, meant for ostrich horses and carriages. There weren't any cars in your grandfather's time, never mind any earlier than that. Here, hang on a tick." Qi jogged back and returned with the picnic basket in hand. "Don't know how long we'll be here, may as well bring the food. This is pretty wild out here. Watch for snakes." Qi started back down the drive.

"Surely you are jesting! Qi! Qi! Oh, Qi, I can't abide snakes! Qi!" Wu hurriedly followed along after.

It took a good twenty minutes of walking before they finally spotted the house through the trees, the driveway opening into an expansive courtyard. It was a large place; not quite as capacious as the mansion in Republic City, but big enough to still be imposing. The single-storied edifice was built of stone with the traditional curved wooden roof; covered with moss and rotting leaves but seemingly intact. The grand front door to the lodge was overgrown, the iron bands around the wood as rusty as the gates had been. "Hmmm," Qi said, inspecting it. "Let's see if there's another entrance a little easier to access. It looks okay from here, but who knows about the roof." They walked around the house, passing a large stone stable and what looked like the remains of the servants' quarters, walking until they came to a door on the side, clear of vines for the most part. Qi put down the basket and wrestled with it for a few moments before it opened, the wooden door swollen and warped with years worth of water damage. "Well, the wood's not in such good shape, but I guess that's to be expected. Mind yourself, now."

It was the door into the kitchens, a huge space, with old copper pots and pans still hanging from the ceiling and a large wooden worktable in the middle of the room. Qi whistled. "Look at that. LoLo would keel right over if he saw all of this." Qi ran a hand along the table and sneezed at the violent cloud of dust that followed. "Doesn't seem to be any water damage in here so I guess the roof is okay in the kitchen at least." Qi walked over to the enormous fireplace, big enough to fit the car they'd driven up in. "Don't want to think what's up this chimney, though. Well, let's go take a peek around. But you stay right behind me, okay? Last thing I need is for you to go through a hole in the floor or something." Qi left the basket on the table and took Wu's hand, pulling him along.

They wandered through the house, Qi making sure to keep a eye on Wu the entire time. It was filthy, but short of some readily apparent water damage in one of the bedrooms the roof seemed to be fairly solid. The furniture had been left uncovered and most of it that had fabric had been destroyed by mice over the years. The smell was pungent and both of them were sneezing and coughing with the dust they were raising just by walking around. Qi finally made use of their handkerchiefs, typing them around both of their mouths and noses. The grand room in the center of the lodge featured a collection of animal heads mounted on the walls, something at which Wu shuddered and Qi scowled. "Best just to burn those," Qi said, head shaking in disgust. "I never could understand the point of it." Qi's hands were fisted on Qi's hips. "One thing I'll give them, though, when they built this place they built it to last. It's a mess, but the building is still good, as far as I can tell. The windows seem to have held up for the most part and there doesn't seem to be any signs of any large animals getting in, never mind any people. I wonder how long its been since anyone has been here?" Qi kicked at a moldy armadillo-lion skin on the floor. "I guess you'd need to replace the roof. Well, I'd want to replace all of the wood, not just the roof. The doors and such are in pretty bad shape, they haven't really held up like the stone has." Qi sneezed again. "You want to go look at the stables? And then we can have our lunch outside. I don't want to eat in here, too much dust. Although Zhi would have a field day, plenty of specimens."

"I'm trying very hard not to think about all of the specimens, thank you very kindly," Wu said, following Qi out the kitchen door, towards the stables. Qi managed to get the door open and it was much of the same as the house, with the added addition of plenty of rotted hay and old leather tack falling to pieces. "It'd be a job to clean out, but if you had ostrich horses it'd be a good place for them. It'd be fairly easy to convert into a garage, too, if you wanted to skip the livestock all together." They wandered back outside, Qi grunting a bit while forcing the door shut again before turning around and tugging the handkerchief away, breathing in the fresh air. "Hey! There's a pump. I wonder if the water's still good?" Qi put down the picnic basket and shucked off Qi's leather jacket, rolling up Qi's sleeves and starting to prime the pump. Qi grinned at Wu. "Haven't used one of these in years. There's still plenty of places in the city that don't have running water. I never grew up with it, I can tell you that much."

Wu pulled the blanket out of the top of the picnic basket, laying it carefully over a grassy area next to the stables. He sat down gingerly, taking off his hat and fanning himself with it. Qi was pulling hard at the pump handle, still grinning, uttering soft exhalations at it with plenty of profanity sprinkled in. Wu found himself grinning back. Qi looked happy here, despite the smudge of rust across one hand and a bit of cobweb stuck in Qi's hair. Wu had always thought of Qi as part and parcel of the City; Mako was a city boy, certainly, and was never all that comfortable in the countryside. Wu knew he certainly wasn't. But there was something here, something in the quality of the clean air and the unfiltered sunshine, with the green of the forest that had been encroaching on the lodge for a hundred years that suited Qi. Maybe it was the quiet, the stillness only broken by birdsong and the whine of a grasshopper nearby. Qi had always been quiet; the damaged voice, of course, but also the silence Qi always carried on Qi's person. Even in photographs Qi had hidden depths, much like the land around them.

The pump let out with a deep rattling groan and shuddered; a few seconds later some rather dirty looking water trickled out. "There it is!" said Qi, obviously excited. "The pipes are probably full of muck but once it rinses that out we can see what we can see." Qi kept pumping away, and Wu watched with interest as the water gained volume and, over the course of a few minutes, gradually started to clear. "Didn't LoLo pack us some cups?" Qi asked, nodding at the basket, and Wu fished around until he found one, standing up and bringing it to Qi. "Let's see." Qi filled it and cautiously took a sip and then a large swallow. "Oh, it's good! The water's still good. You never know, wells can dry up or go bad. You want to try?"

Wu took the cup and tasted it. The water was teeth-chatteringly icy, and very good indeed. "It's so cold!" he sputtered, and Qi laughed.

"It means the well is good and deep. I don't know if it would withstand putting actual plumbing in here, you'd have to bring in someone who knows how to do all of that. But at least there's water." They sat back down on the blanket and Wu started to take things out of the basket, laying them down neatly. "How much property does this place have anyhow?"

"Oh, according to the deed there's about twenty thousand acres of land. All of this forest area belongs to the property. That's why there aren't any villages or anything nearby. This area used to belong to the Earth Kingdom, of course. I'm not sure if the Fire Nation ever made it this far inland when they invaded and colonized the area. They claimed a lot of land they hadn't actually even taken, there was a whole to-do while my great-grandfather and Firelord Zuko and Avatar Aang worked it all out. It's just barely in the United Republic's borders now, however."

Qi was staring at him. "That's...a lot of land. A lot of damn land. What's it all worth, anyhow?"

Wu shrugged. "I have no idea. You know you have to ask Mako about that kind of thing." Wu waved his arm. "It's mostly forest, although there is apparently a small lake somewhere around here that belongs to the property as well. They used to use it for hunting, remember, so it hasn't been really cleared for farming or anything. I wouldn't be surprised if people had built along the edges of it, though, seeing as it has been so long since anyone's been here to claim it. I suppose that's something you'd have to clear up with lawyers and such." He shrugged again. "I pay people to do that sort of thing for me."

Qi was quiet for a moment, fiddling with a pair of chopsticks. "What do you plan on doing with it?"

"Ah. Well, that's the thing. It's not really what I plan on doing with it. It's what you plan on doing with it." At Qi's baffled look, Wu smiled. "You see, I'm giving it to you."

Qi was silent for a long moment, staring into Wu's eyes. "Why are you doing that?"

"Don't you want it?"

Qi raised an eyebrow. "Don't answer my question with a question of your own. That slippery business of yours works on your husband, not me. Why are you trying to give me this property?"

"Trying, am I?" At Qi's look Wu threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine. I'll tell it your way, then. So. I have consulted with my lawyers about how to officially make you a part of the Hou-Ting family. In Ba Sing Se it would be enough for me to give you the crest; we don't live in Ba Sing Se, however, so there is legal paperwork to be considered. There are three choices. The first one would be to have another Hou-Ting bring you into the family as my cousin or sibling. That one is clearly out since, insofar as I know, I am the only adult Hou-Ting left living. The second choice would be for me to officially adopt you as my child. Which is odd, considering our respective ages, but it wouldn't be the first time it had ever happened, of course. The sticky issue there is that...well, to be blunt, you'd become the Hou-Ting heir. You're not a bender and you are older than Zhi."

Qi took a deep breath and let it out. "I do not want to be your heir. Ever. That's for Zhi. Cut that one right on out."

"I had assumed that would be your answer, actually."

"Too right it would be. So what's the other choice?"

Wu dropped his eyes and started to fiddle with the basket, re-arranging the things on the blanket. Qi sighed again.

"It's for me to marry you, isn't it?" Wu's eyes flew up to meet Qi's, startled wide. Qi let out with a gritty little laugh. "I might not be the detective in the family but I'm not stupid, you know. I've read all of your books about these things. I'm right, aren't I?"

Wu's hands fluttered nervously. "It's not a necessity, of course. As members of the Hou-Ting family Mako and the children get an annual stipend and I've settled certain properties and such on them, it's what is done. You don't need to be legally connected for me to do the same. And as I said, in Ba Sing Se it's enough I've given you the crest, it's just Republic City, or the United Republic's laws I should say-"

"Now you're babbling," Qi said mildly, cutting him off. Qi snorted. "Well, this is all sort of royal, isn't it? No romance, just get down to business, sign the contracts. Hand over the land. Nothing personal, just the legalities."

Wu was quiet, staring at the wedding ring on his hand. "The King of the Earth Kingdom shouldn't wear a wedding ring. We're considered above such trinkets to denote our marital status. Our word is law; we can promote or demote a consort at any time. Well, in theory, anyhow. It's considered a huge insult to demote an actual consort and you'd risk a great deal of political upheaval if you did so. It was far easier to stash away the out of favor consort in the far reaches of the Palace and leave them there to rot in opulence, of course." Wu's smile was melancholy. "I wear this ring because Mako had it made for me and it's beautiful and I love it and I love him. I don't wear it because I feel an obligation to do so. That's not how I was raised. I bought Mako his ring because I wanted to please him and I wanted to embrace the customs of Republic City since this is my new home." Wu raised his eyes to Qi. "Everything I do here is based on someone else's customs, someone else's laws. My entire way of life is gone. Sometimes I feel like I've been erased. And worse, I'm the one who erased myself. It was my choice to give it all up, I know. It's my own fault. I still feel it was the right thing to do, but sometimes I long for my home, for everything that was familiar and right to me. Just because I don't talk about it doesn't mean I don't feel that way." 

"I'm sorry." Qi's voice was a whisper. 

Wu nodded in acknowledgement. "It is what it is. I'm not unhappy, you know. Well. Nothing I can't bear, anyhow." He smiled through sudden tears. "I try not to dwell on it. But Qi...I am so careful not to make decisions for you. I try very hard. You are not the same as Mako. Mako was never made to be alone, despite what I think he believed all along. Mako was desperate for a family, for stability, for a home. I was those things for him. I hope to always be those things to him. I have loved him since the moment I met him, although in the beginning it was a selfish boy's one-sided love. I took him for granted and never thought of his happiness. It worked out for us eventually, but I hope I learned my lesson there. The thing is, Qi..." Wu took a deep breath, "...I think you are desperate for a family as well. Home. Stability. I've tried so hard to make these things available for you without pushing you into them, manipulating you. Seducing you, as it were." Wu laughed a little. "I'm not sure how well I've succeeded. Mako's right, I am imperious. Well, that's just who I am. I don't know that it will ever change. I do my best. But I am excruciatingly aware that what I am doing right now is, in its own way, a trap of love."

"I don't feel trapped."

Wu fished in the basket for a clean napkin and dabbed at his eyes. "I do hope not. You are your own person, Qi. You deserve love and happiness on your own terms. We will always be your family. Always. It doesn't need to be legal under Republic City's laws, and it hasn't been, for that matter. Your relationship with the children isn't legal, but Zhi and Meili have only ever known you as another parent to them. Naoki is a little older, but I do believe she sees you as a mix between a parent and a older sibling, perhaps. But those relationships, you've built on your own." Wu smoothed the napkin across his lap and met Qi's eyes again. "Qi, you are not, as you say, stupid. I know you are aware of how my husband feels about you, even if he hasn't figured it all out for himself. Oh, why mince words? He wants you, of course, that's plain to anyone with eyes. Including your eyes, and now you're blushing! Well, you do like to be blunt, Qi, so I am just trying to communicate that way with you."

"Doing a bang up job with it," Qi said, hands spread across cheeks flushed with mortification. 

"I don't care, you know. I told Mako a few weeks ago...well. I told him a long story about the historical background of the various marriages of the royal family because I love that man, but if I spoke to him the way I am speaking to you right now he'd shout at me and then run off to set things on fire and utterly refuse to address the subject ever again. Never say I don't know my own husband."

That got a little laugh from Qi. "I won't argue with you there."

"Mmmm. I should say not. The thing is...I don't care. Republic City might be utterly scandalized but Ba Sing Se wouldn't bat an eye so long as the proper forms were followed. Per Ba Sing Se's customs you both belong to me, so it wouldn't even be worth speculating over. It'd be considered par for the course. Only if you were my concubine or consort, however. If that were the case there would simply be no scandal at all." Wu shrugged. "I have to say I've never understood all of the fuss Republic City makes over that sort of thing. If the nobility of Ba Sing Se were to get worked up and divorced every single time a husband or wife procured a new concubine then no one in the Upper Ring would be married at all!" Wu leaned in. "Lin's grandmother only kicked out her grandfather because he refused to give the women he was sleeping with official concubine status. That was considered low-class." Wu made a little mou of distaste. "Imagine! A concubine is an honored position, you know. It comes with rights and certain expectations of gifts of money or jewels or land, depending on the wealth of the noble involved. To not elevate your lover to the status of concubine is the scandal where I come from. It spoke very poorly of Lin's grandfather, really." Wu shrugged. "Well, I know it sounds odd to you, growing up where you have. But it's what I grew up with. The truth of it is that I don't care if you and Mako want to sleep with each other. But I couldn't possibly let it happen under my roof unless you were given a certain status. I just...I couldn't, Qi. It would be dishonorable to me as well as the House of Hou-Ting." Wu spread his hands out. "Can you understand that?"

Qi was quiet, thinking, before slowly nodding. "I think I understand. It'd be like giving someone a job but not paying them for it." 

Wu sat back. "Well, that's a bit oversimplified, but it's the general idea, yes." Wu sighed. "If we were in Ba Sing Se I'd proclaim you my concubine and all would be well. If you later wished to leave me for another then we'd dissolve the verbal contract, I would give you the expected gifts, and you'd move on to another. All very day-to-day. No one would blink an eye, even though I am royal. Republic City is another kettle of fish, however. You know that concubines are not necessarily respected here. People consider it an affair, a tawdry thing. I don't give a damn what people think of me, but I won't have you or Mako tarnished that way. If I made you my consort, however, it would be acceptable in both places. Republic City looks a bit askance at more than one spouse, but it isn't illegal and it's fairly common amongst the refugees and immigrants from Ba Sing Se, at least. There might be a bit of a scandal, but it would die down fairly quickly. And, most importantly, you'd be legally protected." Wu leaned forward to place his hand on Qi's, his face serious. "If you ever wanted to, I would release you from your contract. I give you my word as a Hou-Ting."

"It's not very romantic, is it?" Qi's eyes were full of tears.

"Qi. My darling. My love. If romance is what you want, then I promise you all of the romance in the world. Well, from me, anyhow, when Mako hears about this he will shout at me for months, you realize."

Qi laughed a little, despite the tears. "Could I have a big wedding?"

Wu laughed outright. "The very biggest wedding my extremely lavish fortune could manage. No limits at all. Whatever your rapacious little street rat heart desired."

"Dancing badgermoles?"

"Need you even ask?"

Qi dashed at the tears with the napkin Wu considerately handed over. "I have to think about it, okay?"

Wu nodded. "I don't want an answer today. I want you to consider it and give me the answer you want to give me, not the answer you think I want. We can discuss it more later, as well. This is not something I am doing on impulse, you realize."

Qi nodded back. "I know."

"And this is still yours. Regardless of whatever you decide. It's not a bribe and it's not a gift. It is a proper acknowledgement that you are a member of the Hou-Ting family. You may do with it whatever you please. Sell it, leave it alone, fix it up. It is up to you. I've already had the deed put into your name and filed by my lawyers."

"Okay."

"Okay indeed. Now. LoLo has packed us this lovely lunch and I think we should eat it. Or at least I should. I believe I smell dumplings."

"Wu?"

Wu was frowning at one of the packages. "Yes?"

"I haven't...um. I mean to say..." Qi was fumbling a bit, a very unusual circumstance. "I...um..." Qi's face was taking on color again. "It's just...I haven't..."

"Ah," said Wu, focusing on untying one of LoLo's nautical knots. "Are you trying to tell me that you haven't actually had sex with anyone? I had assumed that. You've always shied away from that sort of thing." He quickly brought his head up, his eyes wide. "My gracious, I do hope you realize that it is not a requirement! Qi, I most heartily apologize if I did not make that clear. Of course sex is not required. Under no circumstances. I would never dream of it. Never. I beg your pardon, it was carelessly done of me. I could put it in the marriage contract if that would ease your mind."

Qi's face was pressed into Qi's knees. "Please someone just kill me now and put me out of my misery."

"Obviously whatever agreement you came to with Mako would be between the two of you but I hope you know that Mako would certainly never put his oar in where it was not wanted, so to speak."

"Oh spirits," Qi mumbled, refusing to look up.

"Although I can only recommend him. He was my first and he was extremely considerate and very reassuring about the whole thing." Wu smiled fondly at the memory. "Also, he was quite a good sport about roleplaying a sandbender in the shower with me. Oh, and being a Triad boss. That was a lot of fun. It wasn't the last time, either. He does make a very convincing and thrillingly dastardly Triad Boss, you can believe me!"

"Stop," begged Qi. "Please."

Wu started to laugh. "Oh, I am sorry, Qi. I don't mean to embarrass you, I promise. If he were here Mako would probably dump cold water on my head. Never mind. Ah! There goes that knot. I can never seem to convince LoLo that we are not, as it happens, on board a ship and I do not know how to manage all of his twists and turns!"

"It's just..." Qi plucked at a blade of grass on the border of the blanket. "It wasn't...I told you before that I born to a whore, right?"

Wu put the basket down. "Yes. You did."

Qi shrugged, still staring down at the ground. "And she died when I was about two. I don't remember her. At all. But I lived there until I was nine. In the brothel, I mean." Qi quickly met Wu's eyes. "I wasn't for sale there, not at that place." Qi looked back down. "I had a little space in the attic and I worked, I did the embroidery and cleaned and such. I told you that."

"Yes."

"Well, it wasn't a good life or anything, but no one messed with me. I was just a skinny ugly little kid. Besides, like I said, that place didn't cater to the customers that wanted kids. Plus some of the other whores, they kept an eye out for me. So in that way, I was lucky. But the thing is..." Qi went quiet for a bit, still plucking at the grass. "It's just...the whores? They didn't want it. The sex I mean. It was a job. They got paid. They'd pretend they were enjoying it, of course, the customers like that kind of thing, or at least most of them do. They want the fantasy, I guess. But when they were done it was all business, back in the back room where they'd get cleaned up and ready for the next round. They'd make fun of the customers, talk about how boring and stupid they were, how bad they were at sex, that kind of thing. And it made an impression on me, I guess. That it was always this dirty boring thing, something you paid for. Something that was fake."

"Oh, Qi."

Qi shrugged. "Well, I know it isn't true. I mean, my head knows it. But it's hard to get past it sometimes. And even Wei...I mean, he's not paying any of those men he takes home, it's not like that. They want to be there and he wants them there. But he doesn't care about them. He just has his fun and out they go. He's never had a relationship or anything."

Wu scoffed. "Oh, I thought Mako was going to kill him when Zhi let it slip a couple of years back that he'd been visiting you over the garage. Mako thought he'd been carrying on with you, treating you like you were one of his disposable lovers. Nothing I could say would stop him, he drove over there and practically threw Wei out the window. It took a lot of convincing on Wei's part to make Mako understand that he'd never done anything like that with you and wouldn't do it, either."

"Wei never told me that! I'm not his type anyhow, Mako ought to know that."

Wu threw out a hand and rolled his eyes. "Mako's not known for thinking clearly when he gets angry, you know. I knew nothing of the sort had been going on, but you know how Mako is. He's very protective."

"Yeah, I know. But...anyhow. It's hard for me. Don't get me wrong. I know LoLo and Lin love each other. And you and Mako. I mean, I get it. I know it's not all like what I grew up with. I know it here," Qi slammed a finger to Qi's temple, "but my heart doesn't want to believe it, I guess."

"Well. Mako and I...we do certain things. Certain kind of role play. Mako has..." Wu was careful with his wording, "...certain needs which I can provide in my own way. It's not every time or anything. Believe me, we carry on in the normal way as well." Wu smiled.

"It's when you go to the Four Elements for the night, isn't it?" The blade of grass was well shredded by now.

"Yes. Only there. We keep it separate. It's...well. I wouldn't actually feel right talking about it without Mako's consent. But let me make it very clear to you that it is something between Mako and me. There would be absolutely no expectations for you that way. Or anyone else, for that matter. It's just between the two of us."

"Because I don't think I could do that. Not any of that...Four Elements kind of thing. Or even role play. I just..." Qi glanced up at Wu. "I'd feel like a whore. I'm sorry. But I would."

"You've no need to apologize to me, Qi," Wu said gently. "It's fine. I do mean that. I give you my word. And you should ask Mako yourself, of course, but I can promise you that he would feel the same."

"I am curious. I want to, but I don't know. I guess I'm scared. Not of sex. I mean, it's not like I don't know what goes on. Grow up where I did, you learn too early. It's not that part of it that scares me."

"Well, you know, sex and intimacy, they aren't the same thing. What Wei does? That's just physical. What you saw growing up as well, I imagine. But intimacy, it's not the same. And it can be frightening. Letting someone into your heart like that? Terrifying. I think we all feel like that, sometimes. I know I certainly did."

"You did?" Qi looked up.

Wu nodded. "Oh, of course. And it was difficult for us, being in two different cities the way we were. We missed each other, so very much, and we had to trust each other. That part was harder for Mako than me, I think. Trust has always been so difficult for him. He's always so afraid of losing those that he loves."

"I just think...what if I fuck it all up?"

Wu smiled and leaned forward. "Oh, Qi. We're all afraid of that. It's the risk you take, loving someone."

"Sometimes I think, I should just get it over with, just take someone home from a bar like Wei does, just be done with it. But it feels too much like...well. You know."

Wu nodded. "I know now. I'm glad you told me. It helps me understand."

"I feel really stupid, having this conversation," Qi mumbled, looking back down.

"Well, don't. I've never understood people's reluctance. Isn't it better just to soldier through and get it all out in the open so there are no misunderstandings later? It seems a simple enough solution to me."

Qi cracked a small grin. "You do realize you aren't like most people? Right? In so many ways."

Wu put a hand to his heart and fluttered his eyelashes. "I do like to celebrate my own uniqueness." 

That got a laugh out of Qi. "This is a weird conversation. In the middle of a forest next to a hidden house."

"That's your forest and your hidden house, might I add."

"You've got lots of property. Why this one?"

Wu smiled. "It was something you said when we were visiting Chun last year. Do you remember? You told me that sometimes you thought you'd like to just drive to the end of the world, just go where no one knows you. Well, I can't give you the end of the world, but I can at least give you this. Your own little hidden sanctuary, far away from everything, so you can be alone whenever you feel the need. All yours."

Qi stared at Wu, eyes filling with tears again.

"Come here," Wu said, and held his arms open. "I won't bite you. Or even try any hanky-panky, I promise. Just come here for a moment." He gestured with his open hands. Qi slid reluctantly over, sitting stiffly next to Wu on the blanket. Wu pulled Qi in the rest of the way and wrapped Qi up in his arms. "There. It's a hug. I know you are capable, I've seen you do it with the children."

"Children just want hugs. Adults usually want something more."

Wu smiled. "Well, right now I would just like a hug. That's all. And also some dumplings, but we'll get to that after the hug." Qi's arms slowly went around Wu, and Wu's smile widened. "So tell me. What would you like to do first? Here, I mean."

"Get someone out to check the roof, fix the doors. All of the wood most likely needs to be replaced at this point, if that roof is holding on it's by a thread. I'd check the masonry for holes or chinks in it. I'd want it to be weather-tight before the snow flies. It needs cleaning but I'd want to do that first."

Wu nodded. "Mmmm. Did I mention the part where as a Hou-Ting you'll be getting a considerable annual stipend?"

"You said Mako and the kids were."

"Naturally that means you as well." 

"What kind of stipend are we talking about?"

Wu quoted a number. Qi swore.

"Well, I really am quite wealthy, Qi. As I said, you'd have to ask Mako about the details. But in any case, I'm certain you could get someone out here to work on the place if you wanted to. I have no idea who does these sorts of things. Do you hire local? Bring someone in? Someone fixed our house before Mako and I moved in, I've forgotten who they were although I do remember the very imposing woman who smoked like a chimney and shouted a great deal whenever I'd visit. Mako would know who she was."

Qi was laughing. "Listen to you. You don't even know who worked on your own house. You're like an overgrown baby."

Wu pulled back in mock indignation. "How very rude of you! You may redeem yourself by serving me some dumplings. Isn't fresh air supposed to invigorate the appetite? I feel as if I could eat three of them!"

"If you eat three whole dumplings and LoLo hears about it he'll make you eat outside every single day."

"He would, wouldn't he?" Wu's face lit up and Qi's lips quirked in amusement.

"Three whole dumplings it is. What if I added some pickled cabbage and a duck egg to the bowl?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm not that hungry!"

"Pour the tea, then." Qi handed over the thermos and pulled out the bowls with a smile.


	2. The First Letter: Betrothal Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A marriage contract is agreed upon between two houses.

This chapter is the multi-chaptered completed work, [We're Building A House Of The Future Together.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11240859/chapters/25122927)


	3. The Second Etiquette: Matching Birthdates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wu and Gun meet with an astrologer.

They’d had a bit of a scuffle, coming out of the hired car, where Wu had offered Gun his arm and Gun had refused, aghast at the mere idea. He’d persisted, however; Gun was no spring picken and there were stairs and he was genuinely worried that Gun might take a spill. Finally, after several minutes standing out on the street going back and forth with it, Gun had taken his arm, if only for the sake of not being seen squabbling in public like peasants.

“We should have done this before you proposed, Your Highness,” Gun said, as they slowly manuevered the steps up to the front door. “It’s not proper to do it after the proposal!”

Wu patted his arm. “I know, Gun. I apologize. I promise from here on out to only do it in the proper and indubitably dignified order.”

Gun turned to him, in obvious distress. “These things are important, Your Highness!”

Wu leaned forward to kiss him on his wrinkled old cheek. “Yes, they are, and I was too impulsive, as always. I beg your pardon, Gun.”

“Your Highness! You cannot kiss me! Especially where anyone may see!” Gun could barely get the words out.

“I am a very terrible boy, it can’t be helped,” he murmured, before ringing the the bell. A young woman in traditional dress opened it almost immediately; she must have been waiting for them. She bowed deeply and escorted them inside.

“Master Shengxiao is waiting for you in his office, Your Highness, Grand Secretariat.”

He wasn’t sure what he expected out of an astrologer; something more mystical, certainly. The lounge area had tasteful yet bland paintings on the walls, plush rugs, and sofas that were more for show than comfort. On the other hand, what did he know? He’d never been to see an astrologer before. There had been a few when he was a boy in Ba Sing Se but they’d always come to the palace and he’d never paid all that much attention to them. As it was Mako had rolled his eyes so hard at the mere idea that Gun was taking him to see this one that Qi had asked him if he’d seen his brains while he was back there.

The astrologer was waiting for them, standing next to his desk, bowing deeply as they entered his office. He was a disappointment as well; a tall man well into middle-age, wearing exquisite dark blue robes, his queue neatly braided down his back. The only clue to his profession was a small jeweled brooch upon his collar, representing the stars. He showed them their seats before nodding to the young woman, who quietly left the room.

“Your Highness and Grand Secretariat, thank you for coming. Please be welcome in my home.” He had a surprisingly deep voice, rich and resonant. That at least was a little more like it! “Will the Lady Chun Ligao be joining us?”

“Ah, she has come down with a cold, unfortunately,” Wu replied. “The healer says she must remain at home today.” Kya had taken one look at Chun that morning and immediately escorted her back to bed before brewing up some sort of concoction that they were to give her.

“A pity. Please pass along my wishes for her speedy recovery.”

“Thank you,” he replied, trying to be surreptitious as he glanced around the office. There were quite a few books, to be sure, and a very well done star chart on one wall; other than that, it could be anyone’s office, really. Very discouraging. He’d been looking forward to incense and chimes, at the very least. A few strategically placed esoteric symbols would have satisfied, even.

The astrologer unrolled a hand-lettered scroll, neatly pinning the sides down with paperweights. His assistant returned with a tea tray; after they had all been served tea she withdrew again. “Well, to begin with, may I compliment Your Highness on a truly excellent natal chart?” He smiled. “A dragon, with yang water! Very auspicious, I must say.”

Gun looked pleased. “His birth was a time of great excitement, as you can imagine.”

“I certainly can,” the astrologer replied.

“You have always been very much a child of the water, Your Highness,” Gun said, beaming at him.

“Hmmmm,” he replied. He knew very little about it. He supposed he would need to purchase a book.

“Your intended is a phoenix with yang metal.” He leaned closer to Gun. “The gender issues are quite easily explained by this.”

Gun nodded, “Yes, yes, of course!”

“I beg your pardon?” Wu’s voice was icy. He lowered his tea cup as his jaw tightened.

“No offense meant, Your Highness.” The astrologer raised a placating hand. “I am merely commenting that with that particular combination, it is not at all surprising that your intended does not feel committed to either gender. It has to do with the nature of yang and metal; when you add the phoenix to the mix it only strengthens that nature.”

Wu raised one eyebrow. “Hmmmm.”

The astrologer looked slightly uncomfortable. “Yes. Well. In any case, I have broken down the natal charts further. As you can see, His Highness was born during…”

He tuned him out, barely heeding as the man droned on about hours and days and such. Gun was riveted and in any case it was for his sake that he had come in the first place. He’d never really put much stock into astrology; it wasn’t that he was a skeptic, the way Mako was, but he’d always thought that it was so general that you could twist it to mean anything you liked, really. Although he was quite pleased at being a dragon. It certainly sounded impressive! Regal, even.

Gun was giving him his You Are Not Paying Enough Attention look again, so he tried to at least appear as if he were listening. The astrologer was going on now about potential children from the marriage, the best years for procreation, etc. He gritted his teeth and said nothing; he was starting to come to the realization that people were not going to let go of the whole offspring issue simply because it was something he didn’t wish to discuss. Very irritating, indeed. He’d spoken to Qi about it a few nights prior and Qi had just stared right back at him for an excruciatingly long moment before saying, “Welcome to my world.” He’d felt like such an ass at that point that he’d just backed out of the room and had gone and thrown a few old dumplings as violently as he could manage into the koi pond so as not to have to reflect upon how utterly out of touch he was at times.

Gun cleared his throat gently and he brought his focus back to the conversation at hand. “So you have the most propitious dates for the wedding, yes?” He dropped Gun a sly and very sassy wink; Gun astounded him by giving a tiny smile in return before turning back to the astrologer.

“Two weeks from now is far too soon for His Highness, of course. What other dates do you have later in the year?”

The astrologer gazed down at the scroll. “How does Your Highness feel about autumn? We have two dates that are favorable in the autumn.” He pushed a calendar across the desk; Wu gazed at it and then reached forward to tap on the parchment.

“I will have to confirm with Qi, of course, but this date is between our birthdays. I think that might do.”

“It is the most auspicious date unless you wish to be married next year, Your Highness.”

Wu waved that idea off. “The house is already in an uproar over the whole thing, I’m not putting it off for a year.”

“Then that date is certainly the most favorable.” Gun peered down at it and looked satisfied. “I cannot think of any reason that the Beifongs would disagree.” A deep and distinct sniff. “Then again, they are Beifongs.”

Wu quickly turned his laugh into a muffled cough; Gun was still looking at the scroll but his mouth twitched just a bit before he smoothed out his expression. “I thank you for your excellent work, Master Shengxiao.”

“I live to serve, Grand Secretariat.” He gestured at the scroll. “If I may?” Gun nodded his approval and the man carefully rolled it up, putting it into a case. When he had finished he handed it to Wu with a seated bow. “May your marriage be prosperous and fertile, Your Highness.”

“Certainly,” he replied, and it took everything in him to smile politely as he stood up, making sure to give Gun an arm to lean on as he slowly got to his feet. The assistant opened the door at that moment; had it been in the stars? Had she been eavesdropping? Was there a hidden button that fetched her? Questions without answers. She bowed them out the front door and he took Gun carefully back down the stairs to the waiting car. “Kwong’s Cuisine,” he told the driver, before leaning back.

“We are not returning to the house?” Gun asked him, patting at his hat and queue to make sure they were all accounted for.

“Eventually, but I thought I’d take you to lunch first.”

Gun’s smile was small, but it was there. “Thank you, Your Highness. That is very kind of you.”

He reached over to touch Gun’s hand. “Thank you for taking me to the astrologer. I assume we jumped the queue to get served that quickly?”

Gun sniffed. “There are no such things as queues for you, Your Highness.”

“I should say not!” Ah, that got him another little smile. “So, are we auspicious?”

“There now! I knew you were not listening!” Gun clucked his tongue at him. “Just like when you were a boy!”

He spread his hands out. “I couldn’t help it! Now, don’t scold.” He leaned closer. “Are you satisfied, Gun? That’s all I really want to know.”

Gun’s eyes filled up. “It is everything I could wish for. A Beifong, your natal charts, all of it.” He took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his eyes. “Of course what really matters is whether or not Your Highness is satisfied.”

Wu gazed at his profile. Gun would turn ninety this coming winter; he still moved under his own power and his mind was as sharp as ever, but he was an old man, there was no denying it. He had always been a part of his life; guiding him, protecting him from too much of his great-aunt’s influence, doing his very best for him. He hadn’t appreciated him for many years; he’d been sullen and resentful, too young and self-involved to see that Gun had had to walk a careful tightrope between the Queen, the Dai Li and the Court just to make sure that he would make it to adulthood relatively unscathed. “Why?” he blurted out, before thinking.

“Why what, Your Highness?” Gun turned to him, handkerchief crumpled in his age-spotted hand.

“Why did you take such good care of me? You were her Grand Secretariat, after all, not mine.”

Gun met his gaze for a long moment; his eyes welled up again. “I promised your mother I would, Your Highness. Before she died, she begged me to care for you, to raise you to be a good man and a good king.”

Now his eyes filled with tears. “She did?”

Gun reached over to take his hands; the first time he had ever done so, to the best of Wu’s memory. “She did. It was her dying wish. Your mother was a kind and good person, too kind and good for the court. I only wish I could have done more for her.” Gun patted at his hands. “Your mother would be so very proud of the man you have become, Your Highness. I know she would. As proud as I am.”

“Gracious,” he said faintly, and out came his own handkerchief. They sat there for a moment, dabbing at their respective eyes, as the driver resolutely looked ahead and studiously ignored what was happening in her backseat.

“Well, now,” Gun said, clearing his throat. “Chin up, no more tears.”

“Kings don’t cry,” he sniffled. “Except they do, you know. They really do.”

“Yes, I know,” Gun replied. “But no more crying for your mother today, Your Highness. She is smiling down on you, I know she is.”

“Perhaps after lunch you could come with me to her shrine?” He was hesitant. “If you would like to, I mean. I have it in the back garden.”

“I would be very honored indeed, Your Highness. Very honored.” Gun nodded at him before looking out the window, his handkerchief creeping up to dab at his eyes again. Wu closed his own eyes, feeling the sun on his face, and let his shoulders settle back on to the cushions as the car made its stately way down the street of the city he now called his own.


	4. The Third Etiquette: Submitting Betrothal Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betrothal gifts are given by the groom's family.

The hostess guided them past the other diners into the seclusion of the banquet room. Plenty of heads were turning their way; people knew who Lin Beifong was and could most likely guess who the former Grand Secretariat was as well. Tongues would be flapping by morning, she knew. She resisted the urge to sigh. It had made sense to meet here instead of back at the house; Wu would have stuck that inquisitive nose of his right in, for one thing, all his so-called royal protocol be damned. Not to mention the kids would have pestered the hell out of them. No one needed Mako lurking around the corners, disgruntled with the entire thing, either. _What was wrong with the wedding we had?_ he’d fumed at her just last week, glaring from afar at Qi chatting with the wedding planner. Lin had told him to suck it up and deal with it and he hadn’t spoken to her for two days.

She wondered if she could get away with staying at her flat until the festivities were over. Probably not.

LoLo had Gun on his arm, entrancing the old man with all of his many charms. She supposed she shouldn’t be as surprised as she was that Gun had succumbed; that man of hers could beguile gold from a miser, as she damn well knew. Chun was bringing up the rear, not a single hair out of place. The woman had more style in her pinky finger than she’d ever had in her entire life. Part of it was her upbringing; old school Earth Kingdom nobility, everything her grandmother had tried to do with her mother and failed. Part of it was just Chun, though. The only thing that saved her from being like all the rest of those snots was the sly sense of humor she had hidden under all of those floating silks and expensive perfumes. That and she genuinely loved and adored Wu. Not that she’d admit it for all the tea in Ba Sing Se but anyone who knew and appreciated the real Wu usually got good marks in her book.

The gilded doors opened to reveal Su and Baatar with glasses in their hands, waiting for them. Chun’s eyes narrowed a bit; she was a decade younger than Su and they had never been playmates during those summers spent in Gaoling but they’d known each other, all the same. Her older brother had hung about with Su, however. Lin remembered Yun as a pudgy boy, a little bit wild, although nothing on Su, of course. Chun she hadn’t remembered at all, nor Wu’s mother, although like Chun and the rest she had run with Gaoling’s finest young ladies and gentlemen. Su had remembered her, though. Meili Xianjun, married off to the then Crown Prince. Poor little thing.

“Suyin Beifong,” Chun said, with one of those polite upper-crust smiles that she’d always hated.

“Chun Ligao,” Su answered, with a little sniff, before ignoring her to cross the room for a hug.

“Here to stick your foot in, eh?” Lin muttered into her ear, giving her a tight squeeze.

“Qi’s my family now too, you know,” Su retorted before pulling away to bow at the Grand Secretariat and greet LoLo.

“Lin,” Baatar said, and hugged her as well. She wasn’t really the touchy-feely type herself but if you didn’t let the man embrace you he’d stand there looking like he was going to cry and that was worse.

After they’d said their greetings and a server had been in to take their drink orders they sat down at the room’s single large table. Kwong’s always put out a good spread; LoLo had called ahead and made all the reservations and that sort of thing. The gifts were sitting on another table near one of the windows, everything traditional, she assumed. All of this aristocratic back and forthing. No wonder her mother had skipped the whole thing entirely.

“How long are you in town for?” LoLo asked Baatar, taking a swallow of his drink.

“Well, you know how Susi is, she just wanted to check in. We were going to come for the weekend but Nuo shooed us off, told us to take a week, relax a little.” Baatar clinked his glass against LoLo’s.

Gun took a small sip of his own drink, frowning a bit before deeming it acceptable. “I can only imagine Madame Nuo runs things very well.” He smiled slightly. “She was quite the formidable presence in the palace in her day.”

“Formidable is right,” replied Su. “Wu’s lucky she hasn’t shown up and taken over.”

“Raava help us all,” she snorted, tossing down a large gulp of her own drink. She was going to need another one. Soon.

Dinner was brought in for them all, distributed, and she waved her wine glass at one of the kids that was serving and took a swallow as soon as he’d filled it. She took up her chopsticks and dug in while idly listening to LoLo and Baatar talking about catching a pro-bending match the next evening. Gun took very little food; Chun coaxed him into trying some of the braised turtleduck, which seemed to appeal.

“So, Chun,” Su patted her mouth with a napkin. “Do you plan on being here until the wedding?”

Chun patted at her own mouth. Lin had a sudden urge to pat at hers as well, just to see if they’d notice. “Yes. I’m here to assist Wu, and visit with Katsura as well.” Chun’s smile was genuine. “Wu and Qi have asked her to do some music for the wedding. She’s thrilled.”

“Lady Katsura is a very gifted musician,” Gun nodded, taking a small sip of his wine. Watching him pick at his food was like watching Wu, the same fussy hand movements and delicate little bird nibbles.

Su picked up her wine and cocked her head to the side before smiling very slowly. Lin tensed. That particular movement hadn’t boded well for anyone since Su had been about three years old. “And how is dear Willow?” Baatar winced just slightly.

Chun’s smile hardened. “She’s fine.”

She had not had enough to drink yet for this conversation. “Do you know what Katsura has planned?”

Chun deliberately turned to face her. “Something jazzy, I know that much. She won’t let me listen to it, she wants it to be a surprise.”

“Well, the two of them do love their jazz,” LoLo said. He was giving Su a bit of a side-eye himself. “Although if I’m not mistaken they plan on having a more traditional orchestra for the first part of the reception.” He grinned. “They’ll save the hot stuff for when all of the kids have gone to bed and the rest of us have gotten loosened up.”

“When His Highness’ parents were married they had a total of five different orchestras play.” Gun pursed his lips before glancing over at Chun. “Oh, I do beg your pardon, Lady Chun. It was thoughtless of me to bring it up.”

Chun put a hand to his arm. “Not at all, Grand Secretariat. It is a long time behind us.”

“So what’s the plan? Over on the Island?” Baatar’s smile was pleasant.

“I think they’ve agreed that the ceremony itself will just be for immediate family and friends. They are still deciding whether or not they want it in the Pavilion in the backyard or in the ballroom. The reception, on the other hand, will be in the ballroom and at that point they’ll throw the doors open.” Chun laughed. “The last time I listened in the wedding planner was discussing ice sculptures, of all things.”

“Not to mention the caterers will be taking over my kitchen.” LoLo shook his head, bemused. “I tried to argue about it but Qi informed me that I’m a guest, not a cook.” He glowered, just a little. “They’d best leave it as they found it, is all I have to say about it.”

“Her Majesty Hou-Ting XXII and her groom rode in to their ceremony on badgermoles,” Gun threw out. “There were several poems written about it.” Another little nibble of his dinner.

“That’s all we need, Wu springing out the damn badgermoles again.” She snorted and served herself some more lobster crab. “To this day I still can’t believe he did that.”

Baatar chuckled. “I was there and I’m still not over it. It was a sight to be seen, believe me. It’s all Huan would speak of for months. In fact, that’s why he wanted to go with us to Ba Sing Se that first time. He was curious about Wu.” He exchanged a smile with Su. “Curious enough to go despite getting so sick whenever he travels by air.”

Gun turned his gaze to him. “Forgive my presumption in asking, but I have always wondered, why did your son not bend a tunnel himself? He did not do much bending when he was staying at the palace with His Highness, but I saw what he did the day of the coronation. It was an impressive feat.”

Baatar sighed. “Huan was…well. He was very fragile then.”

“It’s not a matter of capability. Huan is more than capable.” Su toyed with her wine glass before meeting Gun’s eyes. “But sometimes he gets emotionally overwrought and when that happens he either loses control of his bending or is unable to bend at all.”

“I see,” said Gun. She was betting he didn’t see one way or the other, but how would you explain Huan and his bending to a non-bender?

“His father and I raised him to not bend at all when he gets overwhelmed. There were some incidents when he was young and we were concerned about potential damage.” Su put her wineglass back down on the table. “So tell me, do you know if they’ve planned the honeymoon already?”

She tuned out Chun’s answer. She’d always wondered why the hell it was Huan hadn’t bent on the day that Kuvira attacked the city. He could have easily tunneled that group of refugees wherever they had wanted to go; the kid was an earthbender and a Beifong, for fuck’s sake. He’d learned from her mother, of all people. She’d never asked, though. She’d take on just about anything in the world but going head to head with Su over her children’s faults - perceived or otherwise - was asking for disaster. Instead they’d gotten Wu and his damnable beasts. She scoffed to herself before reaching for the wine bottle, catching LoLo’s eye. He gave her a bit of a quizzical look; she mouthed, _Badgermoles,_ and he flashed that sassy dimple right back at her. A roll of her eyes got her a wink in return and she felt such a rush of love for him, stupid, sentimental bullshit that she was far too old for, mind. Still, though.

She’d asked him, a few nights ago, if he had ever thought of marrying her. They’d been together for nine years or thereabouts; she’d pretty much given up on pretending that she was living elsewhere and had moved in officially about four years ago now. He’d lain there for a time, quiet, his fingers tracing tender circles into her scalp. _I_ _’ve been married twice, old girl,_ he’d finally said. _Those official papers never did a damn thing for me or those marriages. What I have with you is everything I could ever want. It_ _’s you that makes it that way, not a piece of paper._ She’d kissed him then, before resting her head back into the curve of his neck. _But if it would mean something to you, then I_ _’d do it in a red hot minute._

Did she even want to get married? She’d never really seriously considered it. She knew how important it was for Su; she’d tried to do the exact opposite of everything their mother had done in an effort to keep her own kids happy and on the straight and narrow. Hadn’t worked with Junior, clearly, but the rest of them were okay. Wei had been a little wild for awhile there but he’d come back from his time up north a little sadder and wiser. When it came down to it she figured LoLo was right. She didn’t need a piece of paper to love him or to feel like part of a family for the first time in years. Fuck years, maybe the first time ever. It had taken her over sixty years to understand that love wasn’t a cage, holding you in against your will; it was a foundation, meant to hold you up and give you support. Well, better late than never.

She thought - she hoped - that she’d been able to teach Qi the same. Qi, who had shown up so scared, so full of bluff, desperate, those hazel eyes a thousand years old. Oh, on the surface she’d treated them the same way she’d treated anyone else, caustic and cynical, shrugging at the kid as if to say _Do as you want, all the same to me_. But she’d been aware, from the get go, that they had to be handled with care, gentled like any wild thing. They’d been so unused to even the smallest of kindnesses; LoLo making their favorite snack or her giving them those hidden vambraces for the knives. They’d been so suspicious, afraid to trust. It had taken them a long time to let their guard down, that was for damn sure.

“By the way, how is your oldest son?” Chun asked with an all too polite smile, drawing her right back into the conversation.

“He’s fine.” Su’s matching smile turned moderately feral. Vaatu’s left nut, give her a fight where people came out swinging instead of all of this polite backstabbing shit. Someone should have warned her that Su and Chun weren’t fond of each other. All anyone needed was for Su to start getting worked up about Junior. She trod down on Su’s foot under the table and got a hard kick to the ankle as a thanks. She thought about saying something but Gun jumped in there. Better him than her.

“I am wondering if one of you might assist me with one of the betrothal gifts?” He started to rise and Baatar immediately stood up to give him an arm. “Ah yes, thank you.” Baatar walked him to the sideboard and Gun pointed at one of the packages. “If you could take it to the table?” Baatar picked it up and carried it back, escorting Gun with his free hand. He got himself settled back into the seat and smiled at her. “Lady Beifong, the rest of the gifts are the usual sort of thing. However, I did want to explain this one in person.” He nodded at the box. “If you would be so kind as to open it.”

She gently pulled the ribbon wrapped about the ornately carved wooden box before unlatching it and raising the lid. Inside were two delicate and exquisitely painted porcelain turtleducks, a male and a female. “Oh, how lovely,” Su breathed, and Chun peered at them before gasping and putting a hand to her mouth.

“Grand Secretariat, are those Wanli porcelain? Imperial Wanli?”

Gun’s smile was a little sad. “They are, indeed. In fact, if you look at the inscriptions on the bottom you will see that they are same pair presented from His Highness’s grandfather to his grandmother’s family on the occasion of their wedding.” Gun cleared his throat. “I mean His Highness’s grandmother by birth, you understand, not by adoption.”

Chun’s mouth dropped open and she reached out to take the female, looking to Lin for permission first. She nodded and Chun took it tenderly into her hands. Her eyes were full of tears. “Where on earth did you find these, Grand Secretariat? How could they have possibly survived the fall of the Palace?”

Gun reached out to brush the slightest finger across the male, still nestled into the box. “Ah. Well. I have my ways and means, let us just leave it at that, Lady Chun.”

“What a precious, priceless gift,” Chun murmured, a tear tracking its way down her cheek.

“I know that the Lady Qi…er. Well. Not the Lady Qi but the…my gracious.” Gun looked befuddled. “I do not wish to cause offense to present the…Honorable Qi…with a male and female pair, but that is the traditional gift and what His Highness’s grandfather chose…and…” He dwindled off, looking about the table for reassurance.

LoLo took pity on him. “I don’t think Qi would be offended at all. In fact I’d lay odds they’ll be very touched by the gift.”

“Does Wu know that you have these?” Chun put the female carefully back into its place in the box before dabbing at her eyes with her pale pink hankie. Embroidered pale pink hankie, no less. Her grandmother would have approved.

“His Highness does not,” Gun replied. He took a fan from a pocket of his robes and began to fan himself. “I have tried for many years to find things from the palace that might have special meaning for His Highness.” He frowned. “I had especially hoped to find the portrait of his mother, but it has proved impossible.” He nodded at Su and Baatar. “However, I must say that I believe your son’s excellent portrait is even better than the original.” He allowed himself a slight smile. “Her Grace was never particularly comfortable sitting for that formal portrait. She would, I believe, have far preferred a sitting in a field of flowers.”

“Oh, she would have,” said Chun. “Meili never enjoyed formality very much anyhow.”

“On his eighth birthday, His Highness somehow managed to escape the Dai Li assigned to him.” Gun’s fan wafted slowly, an automatic movement. “He went to the gardens to gather roses. We found him there, his arms full of them. When asked why he had done it, he replied that he was gathering them for his mother.” Chun made a small gasping noise, her handkerchief immediately pressed to her mouth. Su leaned forward to take her hand into hers. Gun nodded at her. “It was one of the very few times His Highness ever misbehaved. He was quite intractable that day; he insisted that he be allowed to visit her shrine and shouted himself into quite a fit. Normally, you know, the Queen did not permit him anything she considered poor behavior.” He cleared his throat. “However, on that particular occasion I managed to convince the Dai Li to keep it amongst themselves and escorted His Highness to her.”

“Oh, the poor darling,” Chun murmured, and dabbed at her eyes. 

“If we had worried too much about poor behavior then we would have never let the twins outdoors,” chuckled Baatar. “We all managed to survive it.”

“How on earth would you discipline a prince?” Su wondered, squeezing Chun’s hand tightly before letting it go. “We usually tried to focus on the positive rather than the negative. Not like conventional discipline would have ever worked with Huan anyhow, Huan being Huan.” She and Baatar exchanged an amused glance.

“Ah. Well, the Queen was rather old fashioned when it came to that sort of thing. She employed a whipping boy.” Gun’s fanning accelerated. “I did not approve; however, Hou-Ting was not, shall we say, amenable to advice when it came to His Highness. I fear that she was unduly influenced by the behavior of His Highness’s father.”

Chun’s breathing quickened. “You can’t possibly mean it, Grand Secretariat. A whipping boy?”

Gun merely nodded, looking extremely uncomfortable.

“Barbaric!” Chun cried. “How could she? And Wu is such a sensitive boy. What must that have done to him?” Tears welled up again. “He’s never said a thing to me!”

“He’s mentioned it once or twice at home,” Lin said, and sighed, glancing at LoLo. “You know how he does it, in that joking way of his.”

LoLo leaned back in his chair. “You get to know him as well as we do, you can tell when he’s actually making a joke or is just trying to deflect from what’s upsetting him.”

“When he first came to stay with us after the assassination attempt he joked about everything,” Su said. “I understood why people thought he never took anything seriously.”

“Poor boy,” Baatar said. “He could hardly sleep for all the nightmares.”

“We were at a loss as to what to do with him,” Su said, taking a swallow of her wine. “If he had been one of ours we would have talked it through with him, but every time either Baatar or I tried he’d just laugh and tell us it was nothing, he was fine.”

Gun’s lips trembled just slightly. “I am afraid that he was not…encouraged, as it were, to discuss his feelings, growing up in the palace.”

“It was Huan who got through to him, finally.” Baatar’s chuckle was a bit rueful. “Told me that he was going to sleep in Wu’s bedroom, asked me to help him move his bed. Spirits know what the two of them talked about in there, but he seemed to calm Wu down.”

“And Wu brought Huan out of his shell quite a bit. He even got him to leave Zaofu voluntarily!” Su smiled at her husband. “They were good for each other. Wu was the first real friend Huan ever had. I’ll admit that one surprised me, I would have never predicted the two of them would get along as well as they did.”

“Well, you know what they say about opposites attract.” LoLo winked at Lin, who snorted in return. “Although I’m not sure that Qi is as much Wu’s opposite as people seem to think they are. Different background, of course, but they’re every bit as canny and ruthless as Wu himself.”

“I have tried to get to know the Honored Beifong better. I’m afraid I haven’t met with too much success, however.” Gun inclined his head politely at the server who was making the rounds with more wine.

“That’s just Qi. I wouldn’t take it personally. They’re always pretty guarded.” LoLo held his glass out to the server. “But they’ll warm up a little, just give them some time.”

“I am quite enjoying my visit with the children, however.” Gun’s smile was genuine this time. “They are quite extraordinary. Her Highness’s firebending and His Highness’s extensive knowledge and the youngest princess’s very charming ways.” A slight wave of his fan. “A credit to the Exalted House of Hou-Ting, quite a credit.”

“They really are wonderful kids.” Su returned his smile. “Baatar and I wish we could see more of them.”

“We do, we really do,” Baatar said, nodding as he pushed up his glasses. “In fact, since school is ending next week, we were wondering if all of the grandchildren wanted to visit.” He glanced at Lin. “We brought it up with Opal and Bolin already. The boys, at least, are going to go back to Zaofu with us.”

“I know Wu will need the kids back for fittings and that sort of thing, but I’m guessing he could spare them for a couple of weeks, at least,” Su said.

“Well, if you’re offering, LoLo and I can take a break and come along with them.” She’d meant it as a joke but Su’s eyes lit up.

“Great idea!”

She held up a hand. “I was just joking, keep your pants on.”

“Actually, why not?” LoLo cocked his head at her. “We can take the kids, spend a week or two, relax a little.”

“This, from you? Mister I Leave My Kitchen In No One Else’s Hands?” She snorted at him, but he was solemn for once.

“I wouldn’t mind it. Baatar and I keep talking about going up to Jade Lake and getting some fishing in.”

“The lake’s high, plenty of spring run-off this year.”

She stared at him. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “Look, the house is in an uproar. Between Mako getting ready to quit and all of the wedding stuff I wouldn’t mind a break.”

“Wait, Mako quit?” Su’s eyes widened. “Since when?”

“Gave his notice last week. He’ll work out the end of the month, make sure he can turn over all of his open cases, but he’s done.” She sighed. “I can’t blame him, there’s a huge reorganization going on, he’s losing his partner and the current chief’s been farming him out to all of the high-profile celebrity type cases lately. The last thing Mako wants to do is get stuck investigating runaway heiresses or a couple hundred thousand yuan’s worth of missing jewels.”

Su shook her head slowly. “No, no I can’t imagine he would. So what’s he going to do, then?”

“As the Prince Consort he could always stay home,” Gun murmured in a prissy tone that reminded her of Wu so much she had to stifle a laugh.

“Well, he’s thinking about going into business for himself. Looking into private financial crimes, that kind of thing. He’s got a head for numbers on him, and he actually likes spending hours digging through files.” LoLo grinned ruefully. “Not my thing, but he’s good at it.” He glanced back at her. “What do you say? A week or two? I’m sure Wu could spare them.”

“We can all go down together.” Now Su was wheedling. “I’ll call Nuo, she can make all the arrangements.” Her smile widened. “In fact, the Grand Secretariat could come as well.”

Gun blinked at this. “Oh! Well.” His hand crept up to his chest.

“Why not? Your only visit to Zaofu was so brief, all those years ago. Please allow Baatar and me to show you around the city.”

Baatar smiled. “We’d be delighted.”

“Not to mention, you’ve never really had the chance to meet Nuo’s daughters, have you?”

Gun was wavering. “No, but of course I have heard of them.” He cleared his throat. “I…er…do they take after their illustrious mother?”

Baatar winced ever so slightly. “Not to worry, only Iris.”

“Give Poppy time,” muttered Su before giving Gun that smile that had taken down the most hardened of warriors, not to mention their grandmother. “Please say you’ll come.”

“Well.” He fanned himself even harder. “I suppose I could. If His Highness could spare me, of course.”

Chun smiled. “Of course he can. He can spare me as well, I could check in on things at home and then return with the rest of you.” She met Lin’s eyes. “The three of them could work things out amongst themselves in the interim.”

So Chun had noticed the strain as well, then. Not that she was surprised. She was a pretty sharp woman, the Lady Chun. “True.”

“It’s settled then!” Su declared, looking pleased with herself. “I’ll get in touch with Nuo.” She sat back and gestured towards the opening door. “Ah, here comes the next course.” The servers brought in a large tureen, refilling glasses and retrieving empty plates before ladling out the soup.

She leaned over. “You planned that, didn’t you?”

“You bet your sweet Beifong ass I did,” Su muttered back, and kicked her in the calf under the table. “Quit looking so sour. Would it kill you to visit with me for a week?”

“Maybe,” she answered, and returned the kick before turning her attention back to her meal.


	5. Interlude One: Every Single Day Can Drag Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three takes more balance than two.

"I really wish you would not put your feet up on the coffee table, Mako. We are not, after all, living in the Lower Ring." Lower Ring? Oh, Wu was in a mood when he started throwing the Rings around. He'd been sniping at him all morning. He'd ask what the issue was but Wu would tell him soon enough, no point in putting his neck out there. With a sigh, he removed his feet and continued to read the monograph he'd been recommended by the entomologist he'd gone to see at the university. He wasn't all that excited about bugs, but clearly Zhi's interest was no passing phase and at least this way he could talk to him about it. Spirits knew Zhi had hardly anyone else to talk to. He was hoping that Wu would be satisfied with that but apparently not.

"Are you planning on reading all afternoon?"

"It's my day off."

Wu sighed melodramatically. "Fine." Off he went, making sure to stamp loudly. Or as loudly as he could, anyhow. It was like a piece of fluff trying to be pissy. He frowned down at the booklet and took out his pen and circled one of the words. What the fuck was a pronotum? He'd have to ask Zhi. Lin and LoLo had taken the kids down to Zaofu for a week or so; all of the wedding prep had the house in a damn tizzy and if it weren't for the fact that he was finishing up his last month on the force he'd have gone himself. If he never had to see that damned wedding planner again it would be too soon.

The cushion sagged next to him and he glanced over, startled. Qi, of course; they were so damn quiet that it was like having a spirit in the house. He jerked his chin and they flicked an eyebrow in return. "That the thing about the bugs?"

He nodded. "You can have it when I'm done." He glanced back down at it. "You wouldn't happen to know what a pronotum was, would you?"

"I wouldn't even want to guess." Their eyes closed and their feet swung up to rest on top of the coffee table.

"I wouldn't leave those there if I were you. Wu's in a mood."

"Wu has been in nothing but a mood for the past week." They grimaced. "You should have gone down with the kids."

"No kidding." With another sigh he took up the monograph and started reading again. Qi was quiet, eyes still closed. He continued reading, circling another word (tergum?) and tapping his pen on it. Who knew that insects were so hairy? Not him, that was for damn sure.

"Is it too much to ask that feet stay off of my coffee table!" And there it was. He risked a glance over the booklet. If looks could kill Qi's feet would be nothing more than charred lumps.

"Yep."

Mako's eyebrow scrolled up. Qi didn't even bother to open their eyes.

"I beg your pardon?" Wu had his hands on his hips.

"Beg away, I'm not going to stop you." Qi deliberately crossed their feet at the ankles, leaving them on the coffee table. He fought down a grin. They had enough sass for all three of them. Wu took in a very showy breath; no response. He crossed his arms; nothing. Qi continued to keep their eyes closed, feet firmly planted in the forbidden zone.

"Do you mind?" Wu was practically vibrating with irritation.

"No, it's fine." Qi was as nonchalant as could be. He had to give them points for courage. Or stupidity. He wasn't sure which.

"You are trying my patience, I will have you know, Qi Beifong!" Wu stamped a foot. Oh, this was going to end badly. He started to shift to stand up but Qi beat him to it, finally opening their eyes.

"Consider me informed."

"And that's all you have to say?" Wu's arms were crossed and there was practically steam coming out of his ears. Qi pursed up their lips, thinking, before shrugging.

"Yep."

Wu's finger flashed out as he pointed, "I do not appreciate your attitude! Not in the slightest!"

Qi nodded slowly. "And I don't appreciate the fact that you're treating Mako and me like your whipping boys, either. So how about you quit that?" He could feel his eyes nearly bulging out. Wu's mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. Qi was seemingly unimpressed. "Mako's in here, just trying to read and mind his own business. I've been to six different shops today looking at fabric and all I want to do is put my feet up and relax for a spell. I figured I'd call Chin's and order us some dinner and then maybe take a long bath. So either spit out what hair's crawled up your ass or go find a different room to have a tantrum in, because I'm too tired to play guessing games in order to figure it out."

Wu stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open, before spinning on his heel and stalking out, stamping up the stairs and slamming the bedroom door behind him. There was a long silence.

"Fuck me," sighed Qi, rubbing at their eyes.

“Was that really the hill you wanted to die on tonight?”

“Apparently it was.” They sat there for a few moments longer before gusting out an even longer sigh and thrusting themselves up. “Well, I better go nip whatever this is in the bud before he works himself into a right snit over it.”

“Yeah, I think that ship’s sailed.”

Qi just grunted at that, absently frowning as they continued to massage their forehead before straightening their shoulders and looking down at him. “You know what? Fuck it. Wei invited the three of us over for dinner tonight, apparently Sitiak’s cooking.”

His eyebrows rose. “Sitiak cooks?”

“Oh, don’t ask Wei, he thinks the man can do no wrong. Sitiak this, Sitiak that, all hail the gorgeous Sitiak. I told him we couldn’t make it but I’ll call him right now, tell him we’re coming.”

“Is Wu coming?”

Qi’s mouth narrowed. “I’ll let him know what we’re doing. He’ll come or he won’t.”

He stood up, putting the monograph down, making sure to mark his place with a bookmark. “I can go and talk to him, if you-”

They cut him off with a sharp movement. “No. I’m not going to spend two hours kissing his ass in order to get him to come. If he doesn’t want to put on his big boy pants and go then he can sit home and eat leftovers and get over it on his lonesome.” They started to walk out of the room before turning back. “I’m not…” They sighed. “Look, you and Wu have your own thing together, and I’ve never gotten in the middle of it. I’m asking you to do the same for me. I know you handle these moods of his in your own way but I don’t appreciate it when he takes his shit out on me and I don’t want him to just assume he can behave around me the way he does around you and get his way.” They lifted up their hands, pleading. “I don’t mean to offend or anything. It’s just I’m different than you are. You follow?”

He watched Qi for a moment before nodding. “Yeah. I got you. I…look, I’m not used to stepping back with him. I know I need to, when it comes to the two of you. I’m not actually trying to be an asshole about it, believe it or not.”

That got him a grin. “You sure about that?”

He scoffed, and grinned as well. “Maybe.” He walked forward and wrapped an arm around Qi’s shoulders and squeezed. “I can’t promise I’m going to get it all right away. But I hear you and I’ll try and if - when - my ass is hanging in the wind then tell me, deal?”

They nodded. “Deal.”

He leaned down and kissed them before letting go. “Look, you go talk to him, I’ll call Wei. If he decides to come we’ll take my car, but if not we can take my bike, maybe go for a little drive along the cliffs after dinner?”

Qi smiled at that. “Sounds good.” They walked through the door before turning back again. “Thank you. I just…well. You know. I know it’s hard on you, I get it. Anyhow. Thank you.”

He nodded. He knew Qi had a point, he was sticking his nose into it far too often. The way Qi and Wu dealt with each other didn’t always make him comfortable, but it really wasn’t about his comfort, was it? “I’m glad you said something.”

“That’s me, getting it all out there.” Qi shrugged that one-shoulder lift of theirs.

“That’s one of the things I love about you, you know.” Qi didn’t say anything in response, but the way their eyes widened and their mouth opened in a silent intake of breath told him everything he needed to know. “I do. You know I do, don’t you?”

“Reckon I do.” Qi shoved a foot along the floor. “Reckon it wouldn’t kill you to say it every once in awhile, either.”

“It might.” He tried to make it a joke but he was pretty sure Qi saw through it; they usually did. “I really am shit at this.”

That got him a quick as lightning grin. “You and me both, friend.”

“Yeah, well.” They stood there for a moment, saying nothing but meaning everything, before he jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. “Anyhow. I’ll make that call. Good luck.”

Qi’s eyebrows narrowed. “Good luck to him, you mean. Me and His Royal Majesty are going to have a few short words together.” With that, they were gone.

“Poor Wu,” he muttered to himself, and went to go make the call.


	6. The Second Letter: Wedding Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Love means doing it on your own.

It was the barest sound of wood clinking against silver that woke Qi, hauled them out of sleep to tense up in bed, listening intently before easing back down onto the mattress. Just Wu, then; writing as he so often did when the insomnia hit him, nearly every night. They slid out of bed and didn't bother with either a robe or slippers. The turquoise silk pajama trousers had been a gift from Wu; the usual type of button up shirt that went with them was too loose, however, tangling and rucking up under their armpits as they slept, making them feel strangled. Wu had taken care of that by having sleeveless silk-knit undershirts custom made in matching colors. They had to admit that sleeping in silk was not a bad thing at all.

Wu was wearing one of his coordinating silk pajamas and dressing gown combinations, in his usual green and yellow. They didn't need to see his feet to know they were properly encased in brocaded slippers. His glasses were firmly perched on that nose of his; he had a calligraphy brush in his hand instead of his favorite silver pen, the one Huan had made for him. Wu could do amazing things with a calligraphy brush; however, he'd settled on a pen some time ago, recognizing that it was far too time consuming to write drafts of his books otherwise. He still insisted on grinding his own inks, however, and his parchment was a one of a kind blend made by the best stationer in the city. The simple act of writing was like an art form for Wu; they had never seen anything like it.

"What are you doing that requires a brush?"

Wu jumped and gold ink splatted across red parchment. "Oh my gracious, Qi!" He put his free hand to his heart. "You frightened me!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Wu pursed up his lips. "As if anyone ever hears you coming. You're a menace." Qi just grinned at that and perched on the edge of the desk, peering at the parchment. "I'm composing your wedding gifts letter," Wu explained, and then made a face. "You've made me make a mess of it. I’ll have to start this page over."

"There’s more than one page?"

Wu snorted a little at this, but quietly. His office door was still open. "You’re marrying into a royal family, Qi. Of course there’s more than one."

“Huh. How many pages did Mako get?”

Wu’s mouth twitched. “As you might recall, Mako and I had a simple wedding. We did not follow Earth Kingdom traditions. He did not get a gift letter.”

"Yeah well, he had his wedding. It's my turn to have mine." Qi picked up several sheets of regular parchment which had clearly been written on by at least two different people; about a quarter of the items on the first page had been neatly struck out. "Are you going to do all of this by hand?"

"Mmmm." Wu looked at the dark gold splotch marring the sheet that had only been half done, sliding it into his trash can with a little sigh.

"That's a lot of work. Why can't you get your secretarial service to do it?" Qi reached over and ran a finger over the callus on Wu's right index finger.

"It's not a matter of can't, of course I could. I wanted to do it myself." Wu took their hand and brought it to his lips almost absently.

"It's not a very kingly thing to do though, is it?" They kissed Wu's hand in return, taking the brush out of his other hand and massaging it gently. The brush got dropped onto the ink stone.

"Well, no, not really - oh that feels lovely, Qi, thank you - but there you have it." Wu laughed a little. "It is rather ironic, at that. All the endless hours of tutoring to teach me calligraphy, and all a king is ever officially required to do is stamp paper with his chop."

"Poor little Wu, all kinged-up and no country to rule."

He leaned back in his chair, stretching his neck from side to side. "It was rather a waste of a truly staggering education."

"I don't think a waste is how I'd call it. You use it. Maybe not the way they intended you to, but even still."

“Mmmm.” Wu took his glasses off and gently rubbed at his eyes. “Perhaps.”

“It’s late. Early. Whatever. Come to bed.” Qi put out a hand to him and motioned with it. “Me or Mako, I don’t care, but you need to sleep.”

“I will, I will.” He put his glasses back on and stifled a yawn. “Let me get another ten finished and then I will.” Leaning forward, he took the brush off of the grinding stone and frowned. “Hmph.” He opened up a drawer to the desk and took out a clean cloth. “If you leave the brush like that, the ink clots up. That’s why we have brush holders, you know.” He gestured with his chin at the silver holder and started to wipe the brush hairs carefully.

“Wu.”

“I just want to get a few more finished, Qi. Don’t fuss at me.” Satisfied that the brush hairs were clean enough, he expertly rolled the brush in the ink again and picked up another empty scarlet parchment page.

“Wu.”

“I said I’d be along presently,” he scowled. “Just go back to bed.” He waved his free hand dismissively.

“Is this the part where you forget I’m not one of your loyal subjects?” Qi’s eyebrows shot up.

“I’d say you weren’t,” muttered Wu, mouth set in a prissy line, refusing to look up from the clean sheet of parchment he was starting to ink. “If you were the Dai Li would have tossed you in prison ages ago.”

They debated mentioning the park groundskeeper across the street that was, they quite strongly suspected, a member of the Dai Li keeping an eye on the house but decided to leave it for another time. “Not really my thing, being a loyal subject.”

Wu sniffed. “Well, you’re lucky we live here, then.” The brush swept its gilded way across the paper.

Their mouth quirked up, amused. There was nothing quite like Wu when he started to play at being king. Snotty, snitty, superior. It turned Mako on like nobody’s business and made Lin want to strangle the man but they’d always found it more entertaining than annoying. Not that Qi dismissed him as being silly; other folks might do it but they knew better. Under the sparkling wit and urbane chatter was a man who lived for playing the long game. Wu knew the value of revenge that was served cold. Still though. There he sat in his pajamas, brush in his hand, his hair sticking up a little in the back, chin thrust out stubbornly because they’d dared tell him to stop doing something. Wu purely hated being told _don_ _’t_ , no matter if he agreed or not. They had a few tricks up their sleeve, though. Something that wasn’t knives.

They reached over and took up one of the unused brushes. Snagging a piece of the fancy parchment, they placed it squarely across the desk from Wu’s pile of paper, dragging up the extra chair to sit down. This was not the first time they’d done so; how many nights had they spent at this desk, laboriously practicing their reading and writing? Dipping the brush into the gold ink, ignoring Wu’s little _tsk_ of displeasure, Qi carefully pushed and pulled the brush until the character was there.

“And what are you doing?” Wu’s tone was arch. He hated having to ask; he always did want to have the upper hand in any conversation. He was too curious to leave it alone, however.

“Helping.”

“You’re the recipient, you can’t possibly help. It’s not what’s done.”

“You should ask yourself how often I give a damn about what’s done.” Their tone was bland.

“Hmph.”

There was a brief silence, only broken by the soft swish of the brushes.

“What are you writing? That’s not even a list!”

Qi pushed the parchment over. Wu frowned down at it; a quick intake of breath and the parchment was shoved back across the desk.

“Vulgar,” Wu muttered. His ears were shading a deep pink.

“If you say so.” Qi dipped the brush and continued on. Another character started to materialize.

Wu finished a line, carefully and thoroughly blotted it, and put it to the side before looking at his master list again. “I am not going to read that if it is crude.”

“Okay.”

“Hmph.” Wu practically tore the parchment, yanking it back into place. He sniffed. He looked at the list again. He carefully ran a line through something on the list before leaning forward, fussing with his brush. He shifted in his seat and coughed to cover up the fact that he was craning his neck towards the other side of the desk.

Qi kept writing, tongue poking out just a little with concentration.

“QI!” Wu’s hand flew to his chest. “You most certainly did not learn how to write that…well, that filth, that utter filth, in my home!” He pointed a shaking finger at the parchment.

“Nope, learned that one off the back wall of Haru’s House of Ramen over near the docks.” Qi gave a last flourish and nodded in satisfaction. “Not as neat as I’d like, but better than it used to be.” Qi dipped the brush again.

“Well, color me surprised,” Wu snapped, and dipped his own brush into the ink with just a shade too much force. He started with the next item. “Haru’s House of Noodles, indeed.”

“Ramen.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Haru’s House of Ramen. Not Noodles.”

“Oh dear me. Now I’ve gone and maligned such a distinguished establishment with erroneous nomenclature.” The more sarcastic Wu got, the bigger the words he started to throw around. Qi bit down a smile and kept writing.

Wu sighed. Loudly.

Qi kept going.

“You’re disturbing me.”

They didn’t look up. “Huh.”

“I cannot concentrate when you are sitting there, writing…those things.”

“Come to bed then.”

“I think not.” Wu snatched up his brush and, mouth in a thin line, started to apply ink to the brush before throwing it back down. “Now what are you writing?”

They slid it over. “I’m making a guess on that one. Never actually seen it written, just heard Lin say it.”

Wu’s cheeks suffused with color. “I NEVER!”

“Oh, looks like I got it right, then.” It was taking everything in them not to start laughing. Wu looked like a puffed up and infuriated turtleduck, like he was going to start backpedaling at any given moment. They tapped at the parchment with the clean end of the brush. “See now, I could combine all three to make a sentence, but I’m not sure which character I’d need for that.” Their eyebrows shot up, waiting.

Wu sputtered. “Well, I am certainly not going to tell you! I’ve never said those words in my life!”

Qi was pretty sure he hadn’t. Sometimes Wu was like an old auntie, clutching at his jade beads in outraged horror. It was one of the things they had always loved about him. “Maybe you should say them.”

Wu’s mouth dropped open. “I…I don’t…I…Qi!” His ears had gone scarlet by now. A hand crept up to press against his heart and his eyes fluttered nearly shut. “I don’t know what you are suggesting.”

In one lithe moment they flowed from the chair to crouch at Wu’s knee, running a hand along it, gently prying open his legs. “I’m suggesting you tell me what you want us to do.”

Wu swallowed, hard. “I am very busy and you are interrupting me.” His chin thrust out. “I have nine more items to finish.” He reached for his brush, his hand trembling enough to send a few drops of ink shivering to stain the blotter on his desk. He adjusted the parchment and with a forceful exhalation, began to write.

They smiled before grabbing at the bottom hem of their silk singlet with crossed arms, pulling it up and over with one fluid movement. Their nipples pebbled up at the sudden introduction of air.

Wu’s brush stuttered across the paper before finding its way back into the character he was desperately trying to lay down.

Next they slid off those brocaded slippers, slowly, one at a time. Wu’s breathing quickened; he kept pretending to write, however. Their lips brushed along the delicate, high arch of his foot and his entire body shuddered. He had surprisingly beautiful feet; small and nearly dainty, soft and cared for. His ankles were slender as well, and they tongued one of them slowly.

“Qi…please…” Wu was pleading, now. Oh, he was so easy. All you ever had to do with him was treat him with care and tenderness, caress that body that had been off limits for any kind of touch for so many years. Wu kept himself safe under all those layers of clothes, the brittle, spiky humor, the battlements of his ceaseless chatter. They’d carried a adolescent crush for years, of course. It was hard not to; Wu was the sun that the entire house revolved around, that imperial charm, his capricious moods, his generosity and shrewdness. He was unlike anyone they’d ever met and teenage Qi had worshiped him as a savior, confusing gratitude for love.

They knew when it had changed. It was the day that they had gotten the call from a grim Mako, telling them that Ine’s body had been found in one of the abandoned buildings at the edge of the swathe of destruction made by the Colossus years before. They were desolate places, buildings in name only, choked with rubble and spirit vines, home to only the most desperate. Wu had insisted that they drive him to the coroner’s office even though Mako had already identified her. Ine was laid out on the metal table, skeletal, covered with bruises, her arms and legs riddled with scars from the needles she’d obviously started using at some point. She hadn’t been around for awhile; Natsiq was already off to the South Pole, Spring at University, Jin-Jin doing well for himself as a bellhop at the Four Elements, Cork spending half his time working for LoLo and half his time apprenticing in the kitchen at Kwong’s, Zip keeping to the streets but keeping clean. Ine, though. She hadn’t made it. Wu had stared at her pathetic little body for a long time before walking back out to the car, uncharacteristically silent, sitting in the backseat as they drove back to the house, staring down at his hands. It was just as they were merging off the North Bridge into the wealthy part of town that they realized he was crying; the sobs muffled into his hands, his body curled up into itself, trying to make himself as small and unobtrusive as possible. Kings didn’t cry, he’d said it often enough. On impulse Qi had kept driving, taking them up the winding road that took them out of the civilized grid of their own neighborhood, past Bolin and Opal’s place, eventually ending at the Sato mansion. They’d pulled the car off into a little copse of trees, hidden from the road, and had opened the door to slide into the backseat, unsure of what to say, but knowing that Wu needed something. They hadn’t even had a chance to say a word; Wu had grabbed at them blindly, still sobbing, and they had, for the first time, wrapped him into their arms, held him as he wept, and it was then, right at that moment, where they had realized that they were well and truly fucked. Because they loved him; not like a starstruck kid did, but with an adult’s realization that there was absolutely nothing to be done about it, that for the rest of their life they would be vulnerable to this man. It had been terrifying and exciting, all at the same time. It had confused them as well, something that they’d struggled with for years. Not any longer, though, and with a little smile they ran a hand up Wu’s trouser leg, stroking at his calf, fingers just slightly brushing the crease behind his knee. Wu jumped; he was ticklish there. Their mouth followed along, silk bunched and shoved up and out of the way.

“Behave yourself,” Wu hissed, but they just ignored him, choosing to focus on nuzzling at that same ticklish spot. “Stop it!”

“Make me,” Qi grinned, and then chuckled when Wu swiped ineffectually at the top of their head.

“I will finish these items, do you hear me?”

“Pretty sure Madame Zong next door heard you.” Their nimble fingers crept up his thigh. Spirits but the man had skin that was soft and smooth as a baby’s.

“If you think I am going to be distracted with your duplicitous salaciousness, well you can just think again!” His tone was indignant but his body was betraying him and they kissed at a sensitive spot on his calf, trying not to grin at the little moan that turned into a gasp of outrage. “Qi!”

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” they murmured, nibbling a bit for shits and giggles. What they got was a chunk of hair nearly yanked out of their scalp, but that just meant he was getting hot and bothered, so that was fine.

“This won’t work,” Wu told them, more than a little breathless, but they just grinned and stroked along his thigh. _Challenge accepted, Your Majesty._ “Qi! I demand you stop this immediately!” Now he’d switched back to haughtiness. They didn’t answer, just brushed the tips of their fingers along the crease where his thigh met his hip. Wu nearly jolted out of his chair.

“Guess you can call your Dai Li man in the park to come and save you, then.” Another few kisses along the arch of his foot.

Wu yanked his foot back, eyes wide, surprised into telling the full truth for once. “How did you know?”

They met his eyes. “If it’s about your safety, then I know about it.” A snort. “I’m better at it than Mako ever was.” Mako had never been much of a bodyguard. Not maligning the man, just stating a fact. “You think I wouldn’t notice the same man always there, keeping his eye on the house? You think I wouldn’t make it my business?” Point of fact they’d put Zip on the case, but that was nothing they needed to discuss at the moment. “Come on, Wu. You ought to know me better than that.”

“Hmph,” he replied, put out that they’d figured it out. “In any case, I’ll just-” he let out with a little shriek as Qi hauled him out of the chair and up over a shoulder “-what do you think you’re doing!” He whacked at Qi’s back indignantly. “Put me down! Right now!”

“You’ll wake the house,” they said, shifting him a bit as they made their way around the desk. “If you’re gonna scream, then scream like you’re me. No volume.”

“You can’t just manhandle me whenever you please!”

“Oh, I think I can.” They gave Wu a pat on his beloved, if bony little ass. “Now hush before you wake the kids. Unless you want to explain to them why I’m hauling you around like a sack of rice.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Too late for that.” They were grinning, ignoring the continuing smacks. Through the door from Wu’s office - toggling off the lights, no need to waste electricity, especially since Mako had told them how those damn fuckers who owned the electrical companies got their power - across the hall, and into their sitting room, shutting the door quietly behind them, turning the lock, just in case. Naoki and Mako would sleep through whatever noise Wu might make but Zhi had ears like a wolfbat and Meili was prone to wandering about the house at night, looking for company.

“I am most certainly not going to be going to your bed after that little performance!”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.” They hauled him off their shoulder - gently hauled, mind, Wu was delicate, unlike Mako that you could kick around without regret - and got the dressing robe off him quickly before he realized what they were about. So long as you could keep Wu in a dither you could pretty much get away with anything. The slippers were next and then they bundled him into the bed.

Wu crossed his arms over his chest and sniffed. Loudly. As if to show that you could put him to bed but you couldn’t make him sleep. He was as bad as Meili. Qi put their arms around him and ignored the stiffness in his body.

“Honey. You’re so tired. You got big old dark circles under your eyes. You don’t have to do everything all in one night. Just get some sleep.”

He shifted away. “I don’t need a nanny.”

Qi sighed, and snuggled him back against their chest, gently kissing his temple. “I’m not your nanny. I’m your spouse now and that means I worry.”

“I never asked you to worry!”

They just chuckled at that. “That’s not how it works and you know it.”  They fumbled around until they managed to ease off his glasses, putting them carefully on the nightstand. “You want to tell me what this is all about? And don’t say it’s about the gift list, because you and I know both know better. No one gives a damn about who actually writes the final copy.” Wu took in a breath to argue but they cut him off. “Fine, a few creaky, old aristocrats might care, but no one else does. And since when do you care about what some snooty ancient aristocrats think? Don’t tell me you do, I know better.” Another kiss. “You tell me the truth now. Don’t try any of your lies, I see right through them.”

Wu was quiet for a time, just breathing within their arms. “I didn’t…I did everything wrong with the proposal and I didn’t…” He swallowed, and his voice was very small. “I wanted to do things the right way.”

Their eyes closed and they exhaled. “Wu. You didn’t do anything wrong. We had a misunderstanding, and it was my fault too, I told you that. I just…” they trailed off, thinking how they wanted to say it, but in the end, bluntness won out, as it usually did. “I was raised in the worst part of town, in a damn bordello. I wouldn’t know a marriage proposal if it bit me in the ass. All I ever knew about it was what I read in books and I even I have the sense to know that books don’t always show every side to everything.”

“I know.” He sounded miserable.

“If I’d been some nice noble girl then I would have understood you just fine. It’s not that you did it wrong. It’s just that I’m not a nice noble girl.”

“I don’t want to keep doing it wrong.”

“So you think staying up all night writing up damn lists is the answer?” They sat up and pulled him up with them. “That’s not the answer, not for anyone.”

Without his glasses, Wu’s face looked unexpectedly young in the moonlight through the windows. “I don’t know what else to do.” He wrung his hands together. “I just want to make you happy.”

“Honey. Honey.” They traced along his cheek with their fingertips. “You already make me happy. You don’t need to do anything else. Just be you.”

He took a deep breath. “This wedding isn’t like the one I had with Mako.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“There are certain cultural traditions and expectations.”

“I know that too.” They sighed. “I know I’m a pretty big disappointment that way.”

“No, oh Qi, no, it’s not that!”

“Sure it is.”

“Not for me.” Wu’s voice was fierce, and he put his hands on their shoulders and gave them a little shake. “Not for me, do you hear me? I would drop all of this right now if it’s what you wanted.”

“Well, I don’t want it.” They kissed him, slowly, sweetly. “I just want you to not wear yourself out with trying so hard.”

“It needs to be right,” Wu said, in that tone that meant he was done with the conversation. They hated that tone; it always sounded so damn imperious, like he was giving a royal proclamation. But they’d come to understand, slowly but surely, that it was a defensive measure on Wu’s part. He sounded like that when he was trying to convince himself that he was right. It was all about self-doubt, and getting angry with him only made him feel more defensive, which made him get even more imperious.

“Okay.”

Wu was in the middle of taking a deep, argumentative breath but choked it off. “I…I beg your pardon?”

“Okay. Writing up the list is important to you. I get it. I won’t try to get in the middle of it again. All I ask you is that you don’t do it in the middle of the night. You need to rest, Wu. When you get like this it’s not good for you, I know you know this.”

“Hmph,” was all he said, but that was an acknowledgment for Wu. They knew better than to try to force him into saying anything more.

“How long do you think it will take you?”

“Take me?” Wu was watching them, squinting just slightly.

“To write up the whole list, I mean. If you could do it without interruption.”

Wu thought about this for a moment. “Well, the list is fairly extensive,” he murmured, calculating. “To do it properly, I’d need at least another ten hours.”

“Ten hours? Seriously? How many gifts are you giving me?”

Wu pushed on their shoulder. “You are marrying into royalty, Qi. I can’t possibly just give you a new tablecloth, some tea and a handful of yuan and call it a day.” He smiled, finally. “It’s an important document. I need to take the time to ink it properly.” He met their eyes. “It needs to be perfect. Beautiful and perfect. Do you understand?”

They nodded gravely. “I understand. I do.”

“Truly?” Wu bit down on his lower lip.

“Truly. It’s your tradition and you mean to do it right by me.” They kissed each of his eyes, gently. “I can understand that.” They pulled back. “Is there a deadline for all of this?”

“Ah. Well, we have gone about this somewhat haphazardly, things being what they were. We’ve not even had a matchmaker, and you’ve already been presented with your betrothal gifts.” Wu tapped a finger on his mouth. “So I suppose as long as it is done before the wedding gifts themselves begin to be distributed then it would be fine.”

Wedding gifts themselves. Spirits. Su Beifong had already taken them aside and discussed their dowry. Dowry! A chunk of the damn Beifong mines, for one thing. They’d scoffed at the idea, assuming that Su would agree with them, but to their eternal surprise she’d actually scolded them, told them that the Beifong family wasn’t about to be shown up by the Hou-Tings. They still couldn’t get over it. They’d said something to Opal about it and she’d just snorted and told them that regardless of how progressive her mother was she was still nobility under it all. They’d gotten saddled with the old Beifong estate in Gaoling as well, something they’d yet to bring up with Wu. _Congratulations! You_ _’re the heir to the head of the family now,_ Opal had said, grinning at them, and had snickered at their expense. What the fuck they were supposed to do with another estate they had no idea but Lin and Su had promised to go down with them after the wedding itself to visit the place.

Su had also told them that they were to call her and Baatar Auntie and Uncle now. They still weren’t used to that idea. Lin had told them if they called her any version of mother that she’d murder them in their sleep, so they were going to avoid that awkwardness at least. They had sort of just assumed, based on how the Beifongs were, that signing all of those adoption papers wouldn’t have made any real difference at all to anything. They were beginning to realize how wrong that assumption had been. They had a sinking feeling that they just might have bitten off a little more than they could chew with this whole wedding thing as well. “It’s not really like you marrying Mako, is it?”

Wu shook his head gravely. “No. Mako is a consort, and that’s only because I insisted. Technically he would have been a concubine. You…well. Fair or not, you’ll be considered my Queen. Or would have been, if I were still on the throne.”

“I’m just trash off the street. I can’t think people really think that of me.”

Wu went to fuss with their collar and realized that they were still not wearing a top, letting his eyes drift away, still endearingly shy. “You’re a Beifong now. It doesn’t mean that people wouldn’t talk about your origins behind closed doors because they would, believe me they would. But regardless of what gossip was flying, legally you’re a Beifong and they are one of the first families, Qi. You went into that marriage negotiation as someone very different than the Qi I proposed to up at your lodge.” He snorted. “My gracious, as if even I would ever dare to propose like that to a Beifong. By myself, on a blanket on the ground! It’s not what’s done! We should have had a matchmaker make all the arrangements with our respective parents, it’s a terrible breach of protocol.”

They just grunted at that. Fucking protocol. It gave them a headache, it really did. “So. What if I were to guarantee you an hour a day, in your office, uninterrupted. During the day, though. No doing this at night. You’re exhausted and I’m not marrying some man that looks like he’s been kicked around the block a few times. I want you looking your well-rested best.”

Wu’s eyes lit up, like they always did if he got to haggle. “Three hours a day.”

They shook their head. “Not going to happen, we have too much to do. No way you could fit it into our schedule.”

“If I were to work at night it would only take me a few days.”

“No. One hour a day, during the day, uninterrupted. I’ll take the responsibility to make sure everyone, kids and maids included, stays off of the third floor.”

“Two hours a day.”

“Nope.”

“You are not being reasonable about this!” Wu leaned back. “You know I can’t concentrate during the day. Two hours in the evening, after the children have gone to bed.” They held up one finger. “But in the evening, not during the night.”

“One hour in the evening, to be finished and you in bed by eleven pm, no exceptions.”

“Hmph.” Wu crossed his arms and they smiled to themselves, knowing they’d won. “You are terribly domineering, Qi.”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“One hour in the evening! I will never finish!”

“One hour completely uninterrupted, even by me. You’ll be finished within two weeks and your hand won’t cramp up.”

“Hmph.”

“If you’re a very good boy and follow the rules, I’ll give you a prize.”

“Oh? And what kind of prize would that be?” He gasped as they reached forward to cup him through the silk of his pajama bottoms, before raising an eyebrow. “Wait. Am I to wait all that time for that?”

They grinned. “I don’t know. It’s not traditional to get your prize before you’ve earned it.”

Wu leaned into them, brushing a hand across their nipples. “We could embrace our inner rebelliousness.”

“Could we now? Since when have you had any inner rebelliousness, hmm?” Wu’s fingers tugged, hard, and it was their turn to fight down a gasp.

“Is that rebellious enough for you?”

Qi chuckled. “If you say so.” They kissed Wu’s cheek, aiming for chaste rather than flirtatious with more than a little regret. They never liked being the good one. “Seriously, though, I shouldn’t have started up with all that. You should get to sleep, and so should I. You want to just stay up here? I’ve already set my alarm clock. The wedding planner will be here at 9 am sharp and you know the man’s never late.” They tried to pull away but Wu held them close as his mouth brushed up against their ear, and they shivered.

“Damn the wedding planner,” he whispered deliberately and with a feral little grin at their startled grunt pushed them back down on the bed, straddling them and then biting their earlobe. “And now, my Queen, my filthy little street rat, I’m going to fuck your dirty, dirty mouth until you beg me to to fuck you somewhere else. Do tell me, is that rebellious enough for you?”

“Wu,” they managed, desire hitting them so hard it left them nearly breathless. He’d never spoken to them this way before. “Wu!”

“And then, if you’re a good boy, I’ll do exactly what it was you wrote down in your less than stellar penmanship on my good paper. Do we have an accord? Yes? Excellent. Well, don’t just lay there gaping up at me like that. We’re overdressed. Do something about it.” He snapped his fingers. “Chop, chop.”

With a wild grin of their own, Qi reached for Wu’s buttons.


	7. The Fourth Etiquette: Selecting A Wedding Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding planners and princesses do not always get along.

“My little royal turtleducks! Bright and refreshed for the morning, I see!” The Butthead Wedding Planner put his hands under his chin, all of his rings looking like ugly lumps of color. Like Papa always said, there was class and there was overdone, and she was fairly sure The Butthead was straddling that border. “And the youngest princess! So very fetching!”

Meili did that annoying thing where she curled one of her curls around her finger and looked all cute. She couldn’t even believe that adults fell for it. But most of them did, including Lin, which really sucked. She said something about it to Auntie Opal once, said how much it sucked that Meili was so pretty and cute and she didn’t even have to do anything special for it and Auntie Opal just sat there awhile before she finally said _Well, now you know how nonbenders feel about benders, most of the time_ , and she had turned that around and around in her mind a really long time, too. She asked Zhi if he felt that way and he thought it through, the way he always did, very seriously, and then he said, _No, if I was a bender then they_ _’d want me to practice my bending and it would take my time away from my studies._ She wasn’t sure who else to ask. She didn’t really know all that many nonbenders. Scratch that: she didn’t know very many nonbenders that actually wanted to be benders. She supposed she could ask Auntie Opal’s oldest brother, she’d overheard Uncle Wei talking about him once, saying that he wasn’t a bender and that had been his entire problem. He was coming to the wedding. She knew that because Papa and Daddy had a fight about it, and then Qi went into the room and said something she couldn’t hear and Daddy had gone completely silent and hadn’t said anything since, or at least not that she had heard. Baatar Beifong, not to be confused with Grampy. He sounded kind of intimidating. He helped blow up half the city! He had been in jail! Well, technically speaking Daddy had also been in jail but Lin said it was all just a big misunderstanding. She'd asked Daddy once if it had been a big misunderstanding and he’d made a face and told her pick up her shoes and not leave them in the middle of the entry for anyone to trip over. Okay then, Daddy.

“Today we are going to look at wedding clothing for all of you, isn’t that ever so exciting?” The Butthead was bouncing around like buying clothes for them was the most thrilling thing in the world. What an asshole. He talked to all of them like they were stupid, her especially. She was twelve years old! He didn’t have to talk to her like she was five or something! She wasn’t Meili! She sighed, really loudly, and felt better when The Butthead gave her a teeny-tiny dirty look. She was pretty sure he didn’t like her. She didn’t care. He didn’t like Daddy either and the feeling was mutual. He was always kissing Qi’s ass though and when she said something about it to Qi they just laughed and said, _He better kiss my ass, otherwise he_ _’ll never work in this city again._

She wished she could be more like Qi. Qi didn’t care who they were rude to. If she was rude to people Papa would be sure to hear about it and then she’d be the deadest of dead. So dead. Naoki Hou-Ting, rest in peace, we’ll be sure to leave you some oranges at your shrine. She didn’t even like oranges all that much, not that any of them would care.

The Butthead was super nice to Papa, of course. He was from Ba Sing Se and he had that same sort of pointy accent that Papa had and he kept calling Papa _Your Majesty_ until Papa got pissed about it and said something that sounded really nice but, she could tell by the Butthead’s shocked face, was actually probably pretty mean. Now Papa was just _Your Highness_. Papa was touchy about that kind of thing, really touchy. Most people had no idea how touchy Papa could get but she could tell them aaaaaaall about it, oh yes she could. Speaking of Papa, he was coming down the stairs now, giving The Butthead one of his best Company Is Here smiles.

“Ah, Yijun. Good morning.”

“Your Highness!” The Butthead did some fancyass bow at Papa. “It is my pleasure, my deepest pleasure!” What was his pleasure, his deepest pleasure? Seeing Papa coming down the stairs? Getting to bow to Papa? Just getting to be there in their house with his embroidered house shoes that he always brought in their own special bag instead of using a guest pair which wouldn’t match his outfit? What a butthead. “The representatives from the design house will be here presently to measure the children and we can look at some of the exquisite designs they have prepared for you to peruse.”

“Yes, yes, very good.” Papa was running late as usual and had not had any breakfast yet, not that The Butthead knew that. He was lucky it wasn’t Daddy, all Daddy did before tea was grunt at people and glare. But Daddy was already off to work. It was his very last week at work. It was weird, thinking of Daddy not being a police officer. “If you and the children could make your way to the Cranefish Salon, I will make sure that the designers are sent there. I will join you presently.” This was polite Papa-speak for Get Lost And Let Me Have My Breakfast. He must have been suspicious, though, because he turned around and gave her the evil eye. “I’m certain Naoki will make sure everyone behaves until I arrive.” This was polite Papa-speak for We All Know Who Will Misbehave And My Beady Green Eye Is On You, Young Lady.

“My pleasure, my pleasure,” said The Butthead again, doing his little bow thing as Papa went out looking dignified, like he wasn’t going to go into the kitchen and eat dumplings and complain to LoLo about all the ruckus. The Butthead turned back and looked at her, eyebrows raised, until she realized he was waiting for her to take them all back to the Cranefish Salon. She sighed again.

“Right, fine.” She poked Zhi, who had been staring out the window, dreaming of bugs, probably. “Come on, we’re going.” Zhi just blinked and followed along. He didn’t really care about any of it, he just did what he was told because then everyone would leave him alone afterwards. She also wished she could be more like Zhi. He hardly ever lost his temper, you had to work really hard at making it happen. Meili lost her temper plenty but you never knew it, she’d just be there looking all sweet and cute and then suddenly you had 20,000 gallons of pond water on your head. She loved Meili, loved her a lot, but she was a damn sneak.

They all went to the Cranefish Salon. It was called that because there was a big painting of a cranefish swallowing a fish on the wall. She had always thought Uncle Huan had painted it, but it turned out it was his Grandma Bhuti who did it, she was a really famous painter too. She liked that painting. The cranefish looked like she was really enjoying her snack. There was a tea service already laid out and snacks for them, too, including very pretty strawberry tarts. She reached for one of them and stuck it into her mouth before anyone noticed. Princesses were never supposed to sneak snacks, even if you were super hungry, which is where the lucky cranefish who was not a princess had one up on her. She looked over for the first time and noticed a big screen had been set up in the corner of the room, which meant they’d want her to strip down to take her measurements, and she hated doing that. It was embarrassing, okay? Stupid and embarrassing.

Nothing for it, though, she was the oldest, so she had to remember her manners. “Would you care for some tea, Yijun?”  Daddy had heard her call him that last week and later at dinner started to remind her to use Mister first but then Papa shocked her almost to death by saying that she, Naoki, was the eldest Hou-Ting princess and didn’t owe a tradesman an honorific. Oh shit! Daddy looked like he was going to shoot lightning bolts at that one and Papa’s eyes narrowed down, a sure sign that a big fight was brewing and then Lin suddenly said that Papa knew best when it came to Ba Sing Se ways and Lin almost never stuck her oar in about anything! She always said she was a neutral and disinterested in Hou-Ting family drama party. Daddy shut right up and refused to say another word to anybody the rest of the dinner. Mark that one up as something she needed to ask Papa about when the wedding was over because it was the first she’d ever heard about it. Protocol. One million rules she didn’t know and always guessed wrong about.

There was too much fighting over this stupid wedding. She’d thought it was going to be fun, kind of like Auntie Opal and Uncle Bo’s was but apparently a wedding in your own house was a real pain in the ass. She had written a letter two days ago about it to Sozui but who knew if he was going to answer or not. The last time she complained about her family he wrote back and said that he wished he had her problems which was really rude and she told him so in her next letter. He was going to turn fourteen in two weeks and she really hoped he wasn’t going to try any of that dumbass mature stuff on her. Rohan was bad enough although he at least was nice about it. He didn’t talk down to her or anything. In Sozui’s last letter he was talking about school! As if she cared! He knew she didn’t care! He was telling her about some bazillion year old text by some airbender guru and how he’d been reading it and writing to Rohan about it and one, who cared and two, well, so glad that he and Rohan could talk about important things like stuck up airbending crap that she didn’t even know anything about.

“The Princess is too kind,” said The Butthead with this fake polite smile and she had a quick moment of where she thought about dumping the entire pot on his head but even she didn’t dare. Instead she just gave him her worst fake smile back and poured his tea into his cup. And then gave some to Zhi and Meili as well. Spirits but she hated sitting in this room like this, everyone all polite but meaning nothing by it. Apparently that was statecraft for you. And Papa was really good at it, and so was Qi, in their own way, and Meili was only five but she was good at it as well already. It’s not like everyone didn’t already know that Meili was a better princess than she was.

Also, it was hot. Really hot. A real scorcher as Qi always said, and here she was, sitting in hot clothes in the Cranefish Salon for a stupid fitting with The Butthead who would want to dress her up in ruffles like a stupid child when instead Qi could have taken them to the beach for the day. And suddenly, without even wanting to, she knew she was going to start crying, and if there was anything she didn’t want it was to start crying in front of The Butthead. She wasn’t really sure what she would have done if Qi hadn’t come in right then and there.

“Your Highness,” The Butthead gushed all ass-kissy at Qi but they didn’t answer him, just looked at her and even though, like usual, their face didn’t change at all there was something that changed. Maybe the way they were standing? Qi’s face was really hard to read, and their body too, which is why she thought they made so many people nervous. But that’s only because they didn’t know Qi. She did, though.

“I need to borrow Naoki for a bit,” Qi said, in that quiet voice. When Qi spoke people immediately quieted down to hear them. It was a good trick; she’d tried it a few times at school, made her voice go really soft, and the same thing happened, everyone got quiet. Not that Qi did it on purpose, it was just their voice.

“Oh! Well, the design house is due at any moment…” The Butthead sort of swallowed his words as Qi turned and looked at him. “But of course they can measure the prince and the youngest princess first.”

Qi didn’t bother answering that. Qi never bothered answering anything they thought was obviously stupid, unlike Papa who would always say something back, and Daddy who would usually at least grunt. Qi always just stood there like they hadn’t even heard your foolishness, and she’d tried that trick a few times on people too and they got really uncomfortable, just like people did with Qi. They held out their hand to her. “Come with me, Butterfly. Zhi and Meili, you stay put, okay?”

“Okay, Qi.” Zhi was busy making a dent in the strawberry tarts. Meili just made that cute look, and then looked over at The Butthead and gave him a pretty princess smile and he practically drooled at her. Ugh. She got up and went to Qi and they put their hand to her back and guided her out, not saying a word, taking her through the hallway into the central courtyard, sitting down on a bench there and pulling her down with them.

“What’s up?” they asked and then she started to cry, she didn’t even mean to. Crying was a stupid baby thing to do. But Qi just snuggled her head against their chest and stroked their hand along her head and that made her cry even harder. She didn’t even know how to explain all of her feelings, they were so big and so confusing and so so so awful.

“I hate everything,” she finally wailed, and Qi just sighed and kissed the top of her head.

“I hear you, baby,” they said, and just held on to her and let her have her cry in peace. That was the best thing about Qi, they always knew when to be quiet and when to say something. Always.

“I’m not a little girl, you know,” she tried to say, but she was crying too hard. Qi seemed to understand, though.

“Yeah? And what are you then?”

She sniffled, and wiped her nose a little on Qi’s shoulder. They just ignored it. “I don’t know. I’m not really a big girl yet.”

Qi smiled. “Not quite yet.”

“Maybe I’m a medium girl?”

Qi kissed her forehead, then. “Yeah, that’s the ticket. You’re a medium girl.”

“They are going to make me wear a baby dress. And wear stupid braids with stupid bows.”

Qi dug out a hankie and handed it over. “That’s probably your father’s plan, yeah.”

“Well I don’t want to.”

“I think that’s pretty reasonable.”

She was surprised. “You do?”

They nodded. “Sure I do. You’re twelve years old, of course you don’t want people thinking you’re Meili’s age.” She muttered something, and they raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

She kicked at the floor, feeling like an asshole. “I don’t want Sozui to think I’m a baby.”

They just hmmm’d at that, nodding slowly. “I get that.” Qi clapped her on the back. “Well, I guess we’ll have to do something about it, then.”

“You do?”

“Sure I do.” They smiled at her. “You park it here for a minute, I’ll go tell them you’ll have a fitting later. I reckon you don’t want to be doing it in that room with everyone else there anyhow.”

“No I do NOT.” She crossed her arms over her chest, which was getting some pretty embarrassing bumps, if you asked her. Ones that she did not want The Butthead looking at. Or anyone else, for that matter. “Can you do that?”

“Can I do what?” They stood up.

“Can you just tell them I won’t come today?”

Qi snorted. “Baby, I am the better half of this shindig. I can tell them whatever the fuck I want to tell them. Not to mention your father is paying an obscene amount of money to get exactly what he wants. Wipe your face, I’ll be right back.”

She wiped her face like they’d told her, thinking about it. Sometimes she thought being a grown up must be awesome, you could do whatever you wanted, tell The Butthead to stick it where the sun didn’t shine. Of course you also had to do things like pretend to like people you didn’t like, which would suck. She wasn’t very good at that. Although as far as she could see Qi never pretended to like anyone they didn’t like, or Lin, either.

Qi came back in, told her to get her shoes, and took her out to their car, driving them all the way across the bridge and into town. She didn’t know where they were going! It was like an adventure! They pulled up to a fancy looking building, one she’d never been to before. They got out and Qi tossed the keys to a man in a uniform, and gave him some money, too. That was valet parking, some fancyass shit, like Lin would say. Inside the building was all glass and flowers and even a waterfall coming out of the wall! Right into an indoor koi pond! There were candles, too, and everything smelled so good. Qi showed her where to leave her shoes and get some slippers, and a beautifully dressed lady came and bowed at them.

“Honorable Qi,” she said.

“Madame Yua,” Qi said, and bowed in return. “This is my stepdaughter, Naoki.”

The lady bowed and smiled at her, welcoming her, but she could hardly even hear her for all of the thoughts going around and around her head. Qi had never called her their stepdaughter before! She felt like she’d been wrapped up in a huge hug, like she was light enough to go flying straight up into the sky. Stepdaughter! That meant that Qi was like her real mom! Or her stepmom, or stepparent. Or something, but they’d said she was their daughter!

Qi was saying something to the lady, who smiled and nodded again, gesturing towards a room. “Please have some tea and we will will be with you as soon as possible.” Qi took her into the room, showed her where she could get changed and hang up her clothes and another lady came and gave her a robe that fit her just fine, she didn’t have to roll up the sleeves or anything. Then she and Qi went into another room that was full of flowers and some nice sofas and things and they sat down and another lady came and served them tea.

“What is this place?”

“Your father’s favorite spa. He comes here to get facials, massages, get his hair done, that kind of thing.”

“Do you do that here too?”

“Yep.”

“What about Daddy?”

They snorted at that. “Your Daddy isn’t much of a spa person. He does get his hair cut here, though.”

“They let kids in here?”

“Well, it’s not really a kid kind of a place. But you’re a medium girl now, right?”

“Yeah,” she said, and had to keep herself from wiggling right out of her chair. The tea smelled good and there were snacks there too, her tummy gave a rumble. She was kind of hungry. “Can I eat these?”

“Knock ‘em dead,” they said, and winked at her. “I’ll get you some lunch later.”

She ate two of the little sandwiches and they were really tasty, fancy kinds like what Papa had at his parties. “Qi?”

“Yeah?” Qi was sitting back in one of the chairs, their feet up, looking very relaxed.

“Am I really your stepdaughter?” She caught her breath, waiting for them to answer. Qi looked right at her.

“Isn’t that what I called you?” She nodded. “Well, that’s what you are, I reckon.”

“Qi?”

“Yep?”

“Does that make you my stepmom? Or stepparent?”

Qi shrugged up one shoulder. “Makes no never mind to me, Butterfly, not when it comes to you. You call me whatever makes you the most comfortable and then that’s who I am.”

She leapt off the chair and threw herself at Qi and they just laughed and pulled her into the chair with them, cuddling her until another lady came in and told them that the hairdresser was ready for them. They followed her up some stairs and into another room, cool and green, with bamboo trees around it, and a fancy chair with a mirror in front of it. She’d never gotten her hair cut somewhere like this, whenever she got a trim on her ends someone came to the house and did it for her there. The hairdresser bowed to her and then asked Qi what to do with her hair.

“Oh, she knows what she wants. Naoki, tell her how you want your hair.”

She stared at herself in the mirror. “Can I…can I get it kind of like Ikki’s?”

They nodded. “Just tell the hairdresser what that means, she doesn’t know Ikki.”

She showed the woman what she wanted, bangs above her eyebrows, cut to her earlobes. After a discussion with Qi the woman cut off both of her braids at her shoulders, Qi catching them before they hit the floor. All of her long black hair, down past her waist, gone, just like that. Her head felt much lighter and then the woman took her over and washed her hair for her, scratching along her scalp, something that felt really nice. She took a long time to cut the rest of it, checking many times to make sure it was all even. Qi was sitting in a chair nearby, sometimes looking at a fashion magazine, sometimes watching the woman cut her hair, winking at her every once in awhile. The woman finished up and put her underneath under this big bubble with lots of hot air, Qi said it was called a dryer. When it was all dry she sat back down and the woman made sure everything was very even.

She couldn’t even believe the Naoki that was looking back at her in the mirror. She’d never had bangs before, and they made her face look different; a little rounder, a little softer. The sides were cut all sharp and made her cheekbones stand out, kind of like Qi’s did. Her neck looked really long, too. It felt so weird, she kept touching the ends, still expecting to find her braids. She and Qi left then and went to another room where they had her soak her hands and feet and then trimmed all of her nails and made them look all clean and pretty. Sometimes Qi wore nail polish, she knew, but they weren’t today and she didn’t get any either. She asked, but Qi just smiled and told her they didn’t want to give anyone at home any more of a heart attack then they were already going to have. Then they were done there and they got back dressed into their clothes and the car was waiting for them and Qi drove them to the Little Ba Sing Se Fashion Mall and they got a late lunch - greasy noodles, too much salt, LoLo’s were better - and then they took her into a shop where they looked for a certain shop girl. She was nice, she remembered Qi from them shopping there before and she found the perfect dress. It was yellow, sleeveless for summer and it had orange trim but not a single ruffle or any bows, either, and it went down to the bottom of her knees and not above them like a little girl would wear and she got stockings, too, not silk ones but ones that folded down at her ankles and a pair of leather shoes that had criss-cross straps and even a little bit of a heel. Not like a high heel, but not flat like her old shoes, either. After some talk back and forth the shop girl took her into a dressing room and gave her a little short chemise that covered up her chest bumps, which made her feel a little better about the whole thing. Qi told her to go ahead and put on all her new clothes and she did and she could hardly believe the medium girl she saw in the mirror there. There was absolutely nothing there that made her look like a baby. Not one single thing! She followed Qi back through the mall and to where the car was and she felt so grownup. Qi had told the shop girl that she was a bender and the skirt was cut plenty wide so she could move if she needed to. She knew she didn’t have pretty arms - some of the girls at school had soft, plump arms but hers were all hard with muscle and usually had bruises on them from all her training but she didn’t even care, not today.

Qi drove them to the park by the cliffs, the one that was right by Uncle Wei’s flat. They took a walk and looked at the ocean, and then sat down on a bench together. She held Qi’s hand and they didn’t even mind it.

“I don’t have a lot of good memories of being twelve,” Qi finally said, after they’d sat for a time and watched a big boat, loaded high with boxes and things, sail slowly past. “Course, I had difference circumstances than you. But even still.”

“Everything feels wrong.” She went to scuff her foot into the dirt but stopped. They were her new shoes.

“Yeah, I remember a lot of that going on.”

“Some days I feel like a baby and then other days I don’t and everything’s all mixed up and I feel like crying and yelling all at the same time.” She glanced at them. “Did you feel like that?”

Qi shrugged. “Well, if I’m honest with you, Butterfly, I was mostly too busy trying not to starve. I didn’t want to mix in with the triads and I didn’t have anyone looking out for me, so it was up to me to take care of myself and I wasn’t able to always do a good job with it.” They nodded at her. “You’re ahead of me in development, too. I didn’t really start to get breasts or the rest of it until after I’d come to the house and LoLo started feeding me. Pretty sure I would have been a bit taller than I am now, too, if things had gone different for me. I just didn’t get enough to eat, even when I was little. I ate, but I got the leftovers, and there were never enough of them.”

She was curious. “Do you get a period?”

They just gave her a funny look at that and then laughed. “Sure I do, baby. I’ve got the body I’ve got. Didn’t start until I was sixteen, which was late, but like I said, I’d been starving, that makes a difference.” They cocked their head at her. “I’m guessing you’ll be getting yours well before then.”

“Are periods awful?”

“Well, I can’t say as I really enjoy mine, but there are worse things, believe me.”

They were quiet for a time, still holding hands, watching the ocean. It was cooler here, where the wind came up off the water, and that was nice, too. She snuck a few looks at Qi. She knew that Qi wasn’t pretty, not like Asami was, nothing like that. Asami was really beautiful, and everyone talked about how beautiful Yumi’s little sister was, the one Meili looked so much like. She knew Meili was going to be beautiful one day; it was easy to see, even though she was only five. “Do you think I’m ugly?”

Qi’s eyebrows shot right up. “No. I do not think that. Do you think it?” She looked away, miserable, and didn’t answer. “Somebody been calling you that?”

Now it was her turn to shrug. “No, not really. I just think it.”

“Is this about your sister?” Qi cupped her chin in their hand. “You listen here. Meili is a beautiful little girl who is going to grow into a beautiful woman someday, or at least beautiful the way most people see it. That’s just how it is, though, nobody gets to pick how they look.”

“Yeah,” she said, and a big fat tear went plop! right down her face. “And I know, I know, I’m the best firebender in generations, blah blah blah.” She looked up at Qi and even more tears just gushed right out. “But I don’t just want to be a firebender!”

“First off, you are not ugly. You don’t have a face like Meili, but you aren’t Water Tribe, either. You’ve got a Fire Nation face. And you know those yellow eyes of yours are unusual. What makes your face alive and interesting to look at is that your face is what they’d call expressive.” Qi smiled a little. “Your face really shows how you’re feeling.”

“Yours never does!”

“Not really, no. But again, that came from my growing up, not because I wanted to be that way.” Qi thumbed away the tears. “It wasn’t safe for me to show any feelings. I guess I just got used to it.”

“Do you love me?” She just opened her mouth and out it came without her thinking about it and she held her breath, waiting for the answer.

Qi cradled her face in their hands. “Baby, I really, really do. I love how kind and generous you are, and all your wildness and strength and how thoughtful you are, which I think most people never see about you. You do a lot of thinking, and most folks reckon all you are is a firebender. But I know better, and I love that about you.”

Now she was really boo-hooing away. Again! “Really?”

“Really and truly. I think you are an amazing medium girl who is going to grow into an amazing woman and I’m glad I’m able to be here to see it happen.” Qi snuggled her in closely. “So. Question for you. You know Bumi, yeah?”

“Rohan’s uncle?”

“Right. So you know, before he retired and became an airbender, he was a commander in the United Forces?”

“Yeah, Rohan told me. He’s funny, his Uncle Bumi.”

“He is a funny guy, I like him. But here’s the thing, Butterfly. Some people, they might think he was a commander because his father was Avatar Aang, right? That it was just because of who his father was. But that’s not it. LoLo told me about him. He was really brilliant at strategy, and that’s why he climbed to the top. You know what I mean by that? By strategy?”

She thought about it. “You mean like anticipating what your enemy will do and counterattacking?”

Qi smiled at her. “That’s about it, yeah.” They handed her another hankie.

“How come you have so many?”

“I live with your father, don’t I?”

She giggled a little. “Yeah.” She wiped her eyes and blew her nose and started to give it back but Qi just gave her a look like You Have Got To Be Kidding Me and so she stuffed it into her pocket instead.

“So here’s the thing, Butterfly. You’re a good firebender, a natural firebender. And you work hard to get better, right?”

“Uh huh.”

“But the thing that makes you better than everyone else is that you also have a natural gift for strategy.”

“I do?” She frowned.

“You do. Why do you think Yumi and your father and Korra are always asking for your assessment of whose ass you’re kicking? That’s about strategy.”

“Oh.” She thought about this for awhile, and Qi let her. “I don’t really think about it. I just kind of know.”

Qi’s smile was there and gone in a flash. “Yeah well, like I said, a natural gift. As you get older you’ll learn to think about it more. Now see, your brother, he’s book smart.”

“I’ll say!”

“And your sister, she’s good at reading a room, reading people.”

“Yeah, she always gets what she wants,” she replied glumly.

“And someone like Sozui, he’s good with strategy too, but in a totally different way.”

“What do you mean?” She sat up taller, wanting to hear this. Not that she cared just because it was Sozui, because he was being kind of a butthead himself lately.

“Sozui wants to build bridges. You want to tear them down. He’s not a fighter, that boy. He wants to bring things together, make things better, and he’s thoughtful about it the way you are thoughtful when you’re bending.” A scoff. “He’s a diplomat in the making, he is. He’d make a good Firelord, too.”

“You don’t think Juziya will?”

“Oh, I think she will. But she can’t have a child, and that’s trouble coming. Maybe not today, but soon.” Qi looked at her, and sighed. “Sozui’ll be expected to provide heirs to the throne one day.”

“Oh.” Her fingers tracked across the orange trim around her waist. “You think so?”

“I know so, Butterfly.”

“Are you going to have heirs?” She bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to just blurt it out that way, and she hoped Qi wasn’t mad. She risked a glance and Qi was looking at her, yes, but didn’t seem mad.

“Well, baby, I have to tell you, lots of people expect that from me,” Qi said slowly. “But it’s not something I want. Want my body to do, I mean.”

“Does Papa want heirs?”

“Well, he’s got three of you, yeah?”

“But we’re not real ones.”

Qi stared down at her, that scary, blank look on their face. She wasn’t scared, though. Never of her Qi. “Someone been saying that to you, baby? Tell me true.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes at school, you know.” She sniffed. “Kids are dumbasses.”

“Won’t argue that. But you hear any grownups saying that, I want you to come and tell me right away. Okay?” Qi still had that look on their face, so she knew it was serious business.

“How come?” she asked, and then added quickly, “I’ll tell you, I promise.”

Qi was quiet a long moment before reaching over and smoothing down her hair. “You’re a medium girl now, so I guess you can know some of this.” They sighed. “So you know your father gave up the throne, not just for himself, but for everyone, yeah? By that I mean it wasn’t that he just stepped down himself, he did away with the entire monarchy hook, line and sinker.”

“Uh huh.”

“Truth is, Butterfly, lots of people weren’t happy about that. Plenty of people still wanted the monarchy even if your Papa wasn’t the king.”

She frowned. “But there wasn’t anybody else but Papa, right? He was the last one.”

Qi nodded. “Oh, he’s got some third cousins twice removed kind of relatives floating about, sure. But no, there really wasn’t anyone else. So there are a lot of people out there who are spitting mad at your Papa for doing what he did.”

“There are?” She found this a little hard to swallow. Everyone she knew thought it was a good idea, even in school they had said it. “Oh! Do you mean like Great-Grandma?”

Qi smiled at that one. “Well, it’s true, she’s wishing your Papa was still the king, she was raised with kings and queens and it’s what she was used to. But your great-grandma, she doesn’t have any harm to her. I’m not talking about people like that. They’re more disappointed then mad, I think.”  Qi’s fingers were idly tapping out a rhythm on the edge of the bench, which was not usually like them at all. They were always so quiet, always so still. She was guessing that talking about this made them upset. “The nobility, for one thing. They were nobles because they were either related to the Hou-Tings or because they’d done something noteworthy years back and had been put there.” They looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to figure it out.

“So…when Papa took away the kingdom that meant that they weren’t nobles any longer?” She threw a quick glance to see if she was right; they were nodding.

“Not in the Earth Kingdom, anyhow. Fire Nation still has them, and the Northern Water Tribe, but when it comes to all the little countries that used to be the one big Earth Kingdom then no, not really. Most of them still have all their money and property and everything, like the Beifongs, or even your Granny Chun’s family. Although they were pretty small fry compared to a family like the Beifongs, or even the Xianjun family, your Papa’s mother’s family.”

She let this information settle into her mind, the way the information always did, quick as lightning. It was hard to explain; she’d just pay attention to everything she could and the answer would be there for her, ready for her to do something about it. It’s what always happened when she was bending, what Qi called strategy, she guessed. “So these people, they’re the Royalists, right? You always shut up when you notice we might be listening but I’ve heard you and Daddy and Papa and Lin talking about it. Even Korra, once.”

“Yes. Those are the Royalists.”

“Do they want Papa to be back on the throne? And you’d be a queen?” She frowned. “Or maybe not, maybe they’re mad at Papa for giving it up. So they’d want Zhi, because Meili and me are benders and we can’t be queens because of it but even better would be if you had a baby with Papa, right?”

Qi was shaking their head, their smile very, very slow in coming. “Oh, Butterfly. This is you at twelve. What are you going to be twenty years from now?” They leaned forward and kissed her right in the middle of her forehead. “Not a question that needs answering. But yeah, that’s about the whole of it.”

She sat back and crossed her arms. “Well, they better not even try. I’m not above kicking some noble asses.”

Qi threw back their head and laughed at that one, all creaky and breathy the way their laughter always was. “Baby, I have no doubt at all you could and would. But let’s hope it never comes to that.” They hugged her again and gave her a little poke. “Well, I’m guessing the wedding planner’s gone for the day, so it’s safe for us to head on home, what do you say?” They hauled her up and they walked together towards the car. “I’ll call the design house myself, I can take you there to get measured, they have private dressing rooms. Okay?”

She sighed. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’ll handle it. No baby dress. Deal?”

“Deal.” She groaned. “How much longer is The Butthead going to be around?”

“The Butthead?” She clapped her hand to her mouth and Qi laughed again. “He is kind of a butthead, that’s for damn sure. But he gets things done, and he knows how to put this kind of wedding together, so we’re stuck with him for the time being. This whole thing’s more than just a wedding, and he gets that, being from Ba Sing Se.”

“Is it politics? Like all the Royalist stuff?”

“Yeah, it is, in part. There’s lots of things going on. But it won’t be all that much longer and then things will go back to normal.”

“Except Daddy won’t be a policeman any more.”

“No. That’ll be different, too. He means to do some private investigating, I think. Go along with Korra sometimes, too.”

“Really?”

They nodded. “That’s his plan for now, anyhow.” They got to where the car was and Qi hopped over the side of the door into the car; they always moved so fast, she wished she could move like that. She was quick, but nobody moved like Qi. “You can ask him about it, you know.”

“I could?” She was surprised by this.

“Sure. It’s not a secret. Your Daddy just keeps his cards close to his chest by habit. But I think he’d talk to you about it if you asked.” They put the car into gear and pulled away, driving slowly through the neighborhood before pulling into the garage, smoothing her hair down a bit before walking with her into the house. “Sounds like they’re settling down for dinner.” They walked together towards the family dining room; she heard Uncle Bo laughing and Uncle Wei saying something in return before LoLo started speaking.

“Well, I don’t think we should hold dinner, for all I know Qi has taken her to-” LoLo cut off as they walked in the door, his face lighting up all happy like it always did when he saw any of them. “Well, talk about timing…” he trailed off, raising up his eyebrows as Qi moved aside and everyone could see her. Everyone was there: Uncle Bo and Auntie Opal and the cousins and Uncle Wei too, along with Sitiak who was maybe his boyfriend but no one was quite sure yet and didn’t want to ask just in case. They were all of them staring at her except for Pearl, who was trying to poke Uncle Wei with a chopstick.

“My gracious,” Papa said, his eyes wide and his hands going to his chest. “My gracious, Naoki.”

Auntie Opal gave her a big smile. “Wow! Look at that! I love it! Turn around, let’s see the whole thing!” She turned around in a slow circle, a little shy, but Uncle Bo whistled.

“Now that’s what I call a makeover! Looks great, Butterfly!”

“You look like a million yuan,” said Uncle Wei, and he winked at her. Lin nodded once and raised her eyebrows.

“Not bad, kiddo. Not bad at all.”

LoLo was grinning at her. “Looks like you lost a few pounds off your head! If we’re not careful you’ll float right on out of here!”

Everyone was making lots of little comments about it - although not Meili, she was glaring at her, but Meili never liked it when she wasn’t the center of attention, so poop on her anyhow - but Papa was still staring at her with those big eyes. Daddy was sitting there, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Qi.

“Well. I have to say that I was not expecting a haircut today,” Papa shot Qi a dirty look but then smiled at her, “but I confess, I think it looks lovely, Naoki. Very flattering, indeed.”

“Do you really like it, Papa?” she asked, suddenly unsure, and he held out his arms for her and she went straight to him.

“I do, my darling. I am a little surprised, but I think it is very fetching.” He ran his hand over her hair and fingered the edges over her cheeks. “And certainly will take less time than all of your braids, hmm?” He gently chucked her on her chin. “And a new dress, even!”

“New shoes, too,” she said, and showed him.

“Indeed.” He looked over at Qi.

“I’ll take her to the design house for the fitting for the wedding. I figure she and I can do some wardrobe updating while we’re there as well.” Qi grinned at Papa. “Miss Kyra the shopgirl asked me to give you her regards, by the way.” Papa laughed at that one.

“My gracious, Miss Kyra! I should have known, it’s a perfectly nice dress for being off the rack.” He patted her arm. “Well now, take your seat. I will leave it to you and Qi to handle the wedding clothes as well as any further wardrobe updates, then.” He kissed her cheek and she scampered over to her usual chair next to Zhi, happy all the way down to her toes. Happy until she looked at Daddy, that is. He still hadn’t said anything. He was staring down at his plate. Papa gave him a really dirty glare and cleared his throat. “Don’t you think Naoki looks lovely, Mako?”

“She’s a medium girl, now that she’s twelve.” Qi said, sitting down as well. “We decided.”

Auntie Opal gave an even bigger smile at that and nodded at her. “A medium girl is a perfect way to put it.”

She looked at Daddy and to her horror, her chin started to wobble. “You don’t like it, Daddy?” Her voice came out all small and sad, and she thought that she’d just get up and run right out of the room before she started to cry in front of everyone. Daddy looked at her then, though.

“You look beautiful, Butterfly,” he said, and his eyes were all shining. Was Daddy crying? Here in front of everyone? Her Daddy? “Very grown up.”

“You really think so?”

He gave her a kind of funny sort of smile sort of frown. “I really think so. Just give me a few to get used to it.”

Papa put on one of his very best Everything Is Just Peachy Keen faces and started to talk about flowers for the wedding, which nobody cared about, but she understood he was doing it so that Daddy could have a minute to get himself back together. Which was a very nice thing for Papa to do. He did it so smoothly and everyone else just went right along with it. She thought maybe she should learn how to do that, too. It might be good for strategy, more like the Sozui kind, but even still. It could come in handy.

“I think you look really pretty,” Zhi said into her ear, and she grinned, nudging him with her elbow. She met Daddy’s eyes across the table; he was watching her, ignoring whatever thing Uncle Wei had said that made LoLo and Uncle Bo and even Sitiak laugh and Papa _tsk_ at them, pretending to be angry when he really wasn’t. Daddy tapped over where his heart was and then pointed back at her; that meant I Love You. She did it back to Daddy and he smiled his real smile, finally, and picked up his chopsticks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thank you to my own daughter; she was the one who, when she was about the same age, informed me that she was a medium girl.


	8. Interlude Two: Every Single One Of Us Needs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avatar road trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a warning for violence, murder and rape of two off screen canonical characters. It is part of a memory and is therefore implied and/or remembered; however, you have been warned. Read at your own discretion.

“Thank you for your prompt attention, Avatar.” The village headwoman bowed deeply, and Korra bowed in return. “We’d be grateful for any assistance you could give us.” She grimaced. “At first it was just little pranks, mostly harmless, but it’s gotten to the point where crops are being lost and livestock is being affected, not to mention damage to several of our buildings. We’re not a wealthy community here, we can’t afford those kinds of losses.”

Korra nodded briskly. “Well, we’ll take care of it, one way or the other. Is the spirit ever around in the daytime?”

The headwoman shook her head. “No. If it follows its usual schedule it won’t show up until the new moon.”

“Right, of course, you told me that in the letter.” She fisted her hands on her hips. “So two days from now, then.”

“I’m sorry to make you wait,” the headwoman began, but Korra smiled.

“No worries. It’s all part of the job. If you’ve got somewhere we can sleep?”

“Of course!” The headwoman bowed at Mako. “We’ve prepared my home for the both of you.”

“No need for that,” Korra told her. “Mako and I will be fine, we can bunk outside.”

The woman drew up stiffly, and he spoke for the first time. “Thank you for the kind offer. We’ll accept with gratitude.” He bowed, and her face eased into a smile.

“I’ll be staying with my daughter and son-in-law, just across the lane here. If you need anything - anything at all - please don’t hesitate to ask.” She bowed again, leading them into her home.

He wasn’t going to go with Korra at first; he’d only been unemployed for less than a week when she showed up at the house and asked if he wanted to come along. A routine Avatar mission: A spirit getting too big for its britches, she was going to go in, either settle it down or send it packing back to the Spirit World and then come home. Wu had surprised him, however, by telling he he should go. _It_ _’s for what, a week or two at most? Traveling there and dealing with it and coming home? Go. Spend some time with Korra. It’s not like you don’t want to run away with all of the wedding planning anyhow._ When he’d asked Qi the same they’d told him to pack a bag and get his ass moving before Korra changed her mind. So he’d called her and told her he was up for it and she’d told him she’d be by for him in a couple of hours. He went upstairs to pack a light bag - what the fuck did you wear to go and chase off a spirit in a provincial village anyhow, a suit?  - and by the time he’d done that she was waiting for him in the park, astride an air bison, much to the delight of all the local children (including his own) and the dismay of most of his well-heeled neighbors. Snip - named for the piece of his horn that he’d lost when he was very young, before the fire shaman had given him to Korra - lived over on the Island, siring more than a few of the air bison calves and generally lazing around until Korra needed him. He kissed Wu and Qi, kissed the kids, promised to bring them back something, and got himself up into the saddle, grinning to himself as they took off and the breeze picked up and sent his carefully combed hair askew.

It’d been too long.

The headwoman showed them around her home. There were three bedrooms to pick from and a small courtyard in the middle, with a handful of low sofas with cushions. Several villagers showed up, ostensibly to bring them food but more likely to gawk at Korra. She was used to it by now and met all of them with a smile, amusing the village children with bending and by pretending to pull various things out of their ears (something she’d learned from Bumi, apparently) and making a big deal of the food. She was good at this, not that he was surprised. People had always liked Korra. He was standing out of the flow of traffic, trying to remember to keep his hands down at his sides and his expression at least neutral, when an elderly woman approached him.

“Excuse me, but the Avatar introduced you as Mako?” He nodded and she bowed. “The Prince Consort Mako Hou-Ting?” She clasped her hands together, hopeful.

“Ah, yeah. Yes. Um. That’s me.”

Her bow deepened. “My honor, Your Highness, my honor. You do our village honor.”

He met Korra’s eyes to find her grinning at him, clearly finding his discomfort with being recognized fucking hilarious. “Um. Right. Thank you. My honor.” He bowed back at her and she scuttled across the room to say something to one of the other aunties and his face started to heat up as they all put their heads together and whispered, staring at him. Korra might be used to it but he wasn’t. He’d been recognized a few times back in his pro-bending days, of course, but that at least was for something he’d accomplished. Being Wu’s husband wasn’t an accomplishment, and he felt awkward and vaguely irritated with the attention he was getting. Eventually the villagers made their way out, leaving them with a table full of food and an unlabeled bottle of what probably passed as the local moonshine. Korra picked it up, holding it up to what was left of the sun, shaking it a bit.

“Do you think we can drink this?”

“I hope so.”

“Could blind us.” She snickered. “Ooh, cold noodles!” She promptly grabbed those as well. “The last time I was in this area they fed me these picken feet, pickled in brine, they were so damn good. I wonder…” she sorted through the various dishes, lifting off covers and sniffing inside, handing the bottle off to him. “Oh! That’s the stuff!” She reached in and plucked out a foot, popping it in her mouth, her eyelids drooping in ecstasy. “So sour. So good. I could eat these for days.”

He reached in and took one as well, the acidity puckering his mouth up. “These are amazing.”

“Right? Come on, we can go sit in the courtyard, have some dinner. I’m starving.”

Between the two of them they managed to juggle the boxes and the bottle of hooch into the courtyard, sitting together on one of the low sofas, not even bothering with plates or even glasses for what turned out to be a locally brewed beer, thin and bitter and surprisingly refreshing. It packed a punch that neither of them were quite prepared for, despite the staggering amounts of food they were eating. Korra always had stowed an impressive amount of chow away; in her teens she’d been able to hold her own with Bolin, who could eat more in one sitting than just about anyone else he knew. After they’d finished and she’d let loose with a belch they’d most likely heard the next village over they settled back against the cushions and he lit up a cigarette. He didn’t bother offering her one. She’d never smoked.

“I’m always shocked Wu puts up with that,” she said, giving it a look. “He’s never struck me as a guy who puts up with shit he doesn’t like.”

“He doesn’t,” he replied, blowing a smoke ring.

“And yet.”

He was quiet for a moment. “He told me once that he wouldn’t begrudge the kid I had to be.”

“Huh. That doesn’t sound like Wu.”

He flicked a glance her way. “You don’t know him all that well.”

“He doesn’t like me.”

“Does anybody like anyone who still expects them to be who they were at eighteen?”

That got him a pair of raised eyebrows and a scoff. “Aren’t we feeling philosophical tonight.”

He shrugged. “Not particularly.” Another smoke ring. “Just saying.”

“He chewed me a new asshole about you, you know.” He knew. He’d been eavesdropping. He just grunted, however. “Oh yeah, really let me have it, told me I was making you look bad in front of the kids, told me I had no idea what you’d been through. I never knew the guy could get pissed off like that.”

“He can get pretty pissed off.”

She was quiet for a moment, fiddling with a chopstick, one knee jiggling along. “He said I didn’t really know what had happened to you. When you were a kid, I mean. You know.”

“You never asked.”

“Yeah, but…you know.”

He turned his head to meet her eyes. “I don’t bring it up as part of a casual conversation, Korra.”

“Yeah, okay, fair enough.” The chopstick was building speed, weaving through her fingers. “I just, you know, didn’t want to bring up any bad feelings.”

“Having your parents murdered in front of you does bring up some bad feelings, yeah.”

She sighed, unhappy with the conversation. Unhappy with herself or with him, he wasn’t sure. Maybe both. “Getting you talk to me about something is like pulling teeth, it always was!”

“Getting you to actually talk about something that doesn’t involve you is the same, believe me.” Whoa! Where had that come from? The beer was a little more potent than he’d realized.

“Fuck!” She was staring at him, chopstick finally stilled. “Just let it hang all out, why don’t you?” He just shrugged at that. He wasn’t sorry for saying it, so he wasn’t going to apologize. “I mean, come on, Mako.”

“Come on what? I’ve never talked to you about it because it’s not something most people would just bring up in conversation and you never asked. Do you know about Asami’s mother?”

She blinked. “Well, sure. Of course.”

“Did you ask her about it?” She was silent and he grimaced. “Yeah, my point.”

“Well, that’s different!”

He shifted, turning to face her, dropping his mostly smoked cigarette to the ground, tamping it out gingerly. He’d pick it up later, he wasn’t going to make a mess of these good people’s home. “How is it different?”

“She’s my wife!”

He just looked at her until she threw her hands into the hair, the chopstick sailing through the air to clatter back down into a potted plant. “Fine! I asked her and I never asked you. It’s not like you ever talked about it with Asami!” At his look her mouth dropped open. “Wait, you talked about it with Asami and not me?”

“She asked. A few years back now. We talked about it some, losing our mothers. Well, parents for me.”

“She never said anything to me!”

“Why would she? She’d consider that a betrayal of my trust. I might not have married her but I know her well enough for that.”

Korra crossed her arms and made a sour face. She knew he was right. “Well, I had no idea you were that close.”

“Sure you did.” He wasn’t going to let her off the hook. Not this time. “Don’t get pissy with me about it. She also took me out to dinner a couple of months ago and asked me how I was feeling about Wu and Qi getting married. She cares.”

“I care too!”

He sighed. “I know you do. But she cares enough to ask.”

“I guess I’m just a shit friend, then.” She wouldn’t look at him.

“You’re not a shit friend. I depend on you for a lot of things. I know you’ve always got my back and I know you’ll always be on my side. That matters to me.”

She met his eyes. “Who else have you told about your parents? I mean, really told, not just that they were killed when you were eight.”

He sighed. “What, you want a list?” She refused to look away. “Fine. Wu, first. Asami. Qi. Lin. Bolin, he wasn’t there when it happened. My old partner, Chiyo. Pema. LoLo. A little bit with the Butterfly, but not much, she’s too young for the whole story.” He grimaced. “I got shitfaced drunk once when Wu was still in Ba Sing Se and told some random stranger in a bar. Dunno what I was thinking with that one. Just needed to get it off my chest, I guess.” He rubbed at his forehead. “I was drinking a little too much then.”

“You told some random asshole in a bar but not me?” Now she was hurt.

“Korra, when have you ever shown interest?”

“I’m interested! I do give a shit! I just didn’t want to get into your private business!”

He was starting to lose his patience. “What, were you waiting for me to just bring it up randomly? Hey, pass the salt and by the way, did I ever mention they raped my mother before they killed her and I heard the whole thing?”

Her mouth slid open. “What? Oh fuck, Mako, is that true?”

He kept her gaze. “I was only eight, and I was hiding behind some boxes, so I couldn’t see it and I didn’t really understand what was going on. I knew they were hurting her but I didn’t know how. Not until I read the police report, all those years later.”

“I…I don’t even know what to say.”

“Who does? No one does.” He wasn’t bitter about it. It just was what it was.

“I’m…I’m really sorry. Fuck.”

“Yeah, me too.” His eyes filled up. “My mother was a very kind, loving person. Hard to believe, knowing me, maybe. But she was.” They sat there for a time, and he let the tears fall. Once upon a time he’d tried to stop them from coming, but Wu had changed that for him. He’d told him, the first time he’d talked about his parents’ deaths, that his parents’ memories were honored by his tears. He’d never really thought about it that way before.

Korra swallowed, finally. “I…would you tell me now?” Her voice was quiet. “I do want to know. I do care.”

He shot a glance her way. She was rarely still; Korra was a woman who always seethed with energy, cranked out through fidgets and that expressive face of hers, about as relaxed as a tightly wound spring. She was holding herself back now, though, giving him all of her focus, making sure he knew she was listening. Swallowing a sigh, he took out another cigarette and lit it. He was going to need it. Fuck, but he didn’t want to tell this story. Taking in a deep draw, he let the smoke out, resigned. Best to just get it out and over with, like everything else in his life that was hard for him. “Sometimes, after school, I’d meet my Dad at the big marketplace over by the train station. He managed a grocery stall, selling fruits and vegetables, worked for one of the big grocers in town. I think I told you that, right?” At her nod he gave a little smile. “It’s what he knew. We weren’t rich or anything, but we did okay. Enough so we had a little house with electricity and plumbing and so my Mama could stay home with us. A sight better than how the family was doing back in Ba Sing Se, that’s for sure.”

Korra nodded at him again, still silent.

“So anyhow, sometimes I’d head over there after school, he was always closing up around then. He was up and out of the house most mornings long before Bo and I were out of bed. I’d walk home with him. It was nice, we got to talk together. Bo wasn’t in school yet, he was home with our mother.” He took another drag, gearing himself up for what came next. “It was late fall, the air was getting pretty nippy by then. That day it was pretty foggy, you know how it can get. My Dad had that scarf, you know, the red one?” He looked over at her and she nodded again. “My Mama had made it for him, first thing she’d ever knitted. He loved that scarf, wore it pretty much everywhere, told everyone how his wife had made it for him. Anyhow, he’d told me it was cold and he took it off and put it around my neck. We’d gotten about halfway home when Mama showed up. She’d left Bo with the neighbors, had come looking for us. Just wanted to walk with us, I think. She was in a good mood, laughing with my Dad, holding my hand.” Now the tears rolled back in. “She was pregnant. They hadn’t told Bo yet, the only reason I knew was that I’d overheard them talking about it and asked. It was pretty early on, I think, I don’t remember her having a noticeable belly.”

“Oh fuck, Mako.” Korra’s eyes were wide, her chin trembling just slightly.

“They were really happy about it. The pregnancy, I mean.” A deep breath. “There was a shortcut we used to sometimes take through an alley, it cut a good five minutes off the walk. They were building a tram line into our neighborhood then, Daddy was always talking about it, saying how it was good that Republic City was going to catch up with Ba Sing Se, how it wouldn’t take him very long to get to work once it was all up and running. We’d never had any issues walking through the alley before, but that day three people just showed up out of nowhere.” He shook his head. “We weren’t rich. There’s no way they thought my parents were worth much of anything. I still to this day don’t think robbery was what they had in mind. If it had been, they would have taken my father’s wallet and my mother’s wedding ring and fucked right out of there, my parents weren’t looking for trouble.” He took another drag, trying to steady his hands. “I think they were there to fuck shit up. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

He rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. He was already into telling it; it never got any easier. Best just to get through it, like ripping a bandage off a wound. “The alley was narrow, and my father was a few steps ahead of us. It was foggy, too, and I’d been quiet. I was a quiet kid. My Dad was wary; I could hear it in his voice. He was saying something, I don’t really remember what. My mother grabbed me and put us behind some crates that were there. She whispered to me to stay quiet and stay hidden, no matter what happened. She made me promise. I think she was going to stay there with me but then they bent at my father. Firebending. One second he was trying to joke with them, the way he did, he was a friendly guy, my Dad, a lot like Bolin, and then next there was fire and he was screaming. I could hear him burning. I could smell it.” He tried to swallow but his throat was so dry. “My mother ran out then, calling his name, firebending herself.” He faltered then. “I uh…I don’t really remember everything at that point. I know she fought them, but they overpowered her. They were laughing, calling her a feisty one. I knew they were doing something to her, she was begging them to stop, she was crying. At one point she said, _Please, please, I_ _’m pregnant,_ but they just laughed at that.”

Korra was crying now, hands to her mouth. He knew how she felt. It’s how he felt whenever he thought about it. He tried not to think about it too much.

“I don’t know how long I was behind there. I was cold, I remember that. I stayed there because my Mama made me promise. I’ve wondered, since then, if I had run for help, if she would have lived. They did leave her alive, but just barely. Someone came, eventually and the men left? I think. Or maybe it was the other way around. But then the police were there and they were looking around of course and one of them found me, hiding. They brought me out, covered my eyes so I wouldn’t see, but I broke away anyhow.” He was trying to smoke but his hands were shaking too much. Korra reached over and held his cigarette steady for him, and he shot her a grateful look as he took a drag. “My Dad had never even bent, they’d just killed him right off. He was burned pretty badly. My mother…ah…uh…”

“You don’t have to finish.” Korra clutched his arm.

“No, no, I do. She uh, was on the ground, big bruises around her neck. She was just broken, she didn’t even look like my Mama any longer, just like some broken thing.” He was sobbing now, he wasn’t sure when he’d started. “She was trying to say something and I broke free and ran to her, crouching down next to her so I could hear her. She said to me, _Care of Bolin, take_ …and then she died. Just like that. Gone, just like that. Just gone, it was so fast, I just…I couldn’t do anything about it, couldn’t stop it, I was just useless. Fuck. Fuck.” He couldn’t seem to breathe. Oh, his Mama, his Mama with her tangerine eyes and her sweet voice, the little piece of hair that would always fall across her forehead, just like Bolin’s did, how she’d rest her hand against the back of his neck and make him feel safe, make him feel loved. No matter what he did or who he was with in his life, no one had ever made him feel as safe as his Mama had.

Korra took the cigarette away from him to take him into her arms, her embrace as rough and strong as it had always been. “Fuck, I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.” Her own tears were hot against his skin. She held him as he sobbed it out, harder than he’d ever cried about it before. Harder than he could ever remember crying about anything, years and years worth of tears he’d locked down inside, all the bitter sadness he’d swallowed, poisoning him with it. He cried until there was nothing left in him to cry, until all he could do was rest for a time in Korra’s arms, knowing she’d hang on to him, never judge him. Say what you would about Korra, but she’d never judged anyone for their pain. He was quiet for a time, his eyes closed, before he could manage to continue.

“They took us to the orphanage. Didn’t even let us keep our stuff. Bo had a stuffed platypus bear he loved, I ran away from the orphanage the second night we were to get it for him, but everything was gone. Neighbors, probably, cleaned the house out of whatever they could. I don’t know. We were at the orphanage for a few months but then this couple showed up, some farmers, they wanted to adopt Bolin but not me, so they were going to separate us and I got us out of there that night.” He wished like fuck they hadn’t already finished off the beer. “I tried to do what my mother told me, I tried to take care of him. I did a pretty shitty job of it, but I tried. He was always so trusting, so good-hearted, you know how he is. I tried, as much as I could, to take it all on, I didn’t want him to be scared or cold or hungry. He never had to see our parents like that, and for that I’m glad.” He pulled away to look at her, finally. “I’ve always wondered, what if we hadn’t gone through the alley that day? What if my mother had just stayed home? What if I had tried to help them?”

“They would have killed you, Mako. You were eight, what could you have done? You’re a father now, you think your parents would have wanted you to die that way? Would you want the Butterfly to sacrifice herself for you?”

“No!”

Korra pulled him back in for another hug. “They kept you safe, as safe as they could.”

“I know that.” He probably would have cried again, except he didn’t have anything left in him. “My mother let them…do those things to her, just to keep me alive, so they wouldn’t go looking for me. I just hope I’ve been worth it.” There it was, the deep, ugly thing in him, the thing he’d never been able to say to anyone else, not ever.

She shook him then. “You think you aren’t worth it? You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?” He couldn’t answer that. “You? The man that raised his baby brother? Who’s the best father I know? Who was willing to sacrifice his life for Republic City?” She grabbed at his scarred hand in its glove. “How can you look at these scars and not know that?”

“I know people have their own scars. I know the things that happened to you because of the Red Lotus were shit, Korra. I was there. I don’t know I was able to really say it at the time, I was a nineteen year old asshole, it’s not like I’ve gotten better over the years, I get that, but I know it was hard for you. Wu, he’s so afraid of betrayal we can’t even keep any staff in the house. Outside of LoLo and Qi, that is. And he’s never really considered them staff.”

“Wait, is that why you don’t have a real butler or a housekeeper or anything?” She was incredulous.

“All of Wu’s servants turned against him the day the Queen was assassinated, including some of the Dai Li. People were actively trying to kill him as he was fleeing the palace. He’s got some serious trust issues. Serious ones.”

“I never knew that. I just assumed it was because he thought Republic City servants were inferior or something.”

Mako glared at her. “He’s not that shallow, Korra.”

She held her hand up in apology. “Sorry, sorry.”

“I know everyone has their own problems, I’m not the only one. I’ve tried the best I could. Probably not hard enough, but I can’t change the past.” He watched her for a moment, silent. “You know, after we’d captured Zaheer and Su Beifong had you down on the ground, getting ready to pull the poison out of you, I was…” He rubbed his hands across his face. “You were laying there like that, on your back, and all I could see was my mother, I…” He shuddered.

“Oh fuck, Mako,” she said softly, reaching for him.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t better in that moment. I wanted to be, but all I could see was my mother and I felt like that kid I was, all over again.” He clenched his hands into fists. “I don’t want to feel like that. It hits me sometimes, and freezes me up, and I think, what the fuck do I do if I’m in a situation where I’m frozen and someone gets hurt or killed because I can’t step up and handle my own shit?”

“You should have told me.” She shook her head. “No, fuck that. I should have asked. Mako, I didn’t know. I should have known. I’m sorry.”

“I mean, hard as it may be to believe I wasn’t always like this. I was a quiet kid, yeah, but I was a really happy one. My parents were good people, I loved going to school. I’m not saying that everything was always perfect, but my life was good. I was really excited about having another baby brother or sister.” He scoffed, eyes filling up, surprising him. He hadn’t thought he had anything left. “I really wanted a baby sister, I was hoping for that. My Mama was knitting some baby clothes, I remember that. The day before they died, she had gotten this soft yellow yarn. Even her knitting was gone when I got back there. I mean, who fucking steals a kid’s stuffed toy or a woman’s half-finished knitting? Those fucking people. It’s not like they didn’t know where they’d taken Bo and me, like none of them could have at least saved aside something for us, brought it over or something.” He looked down at his hands. “Those people that killed my parents, it wasn’t personal. I mean, my parents didn’t have any enemies. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, even the police report confirmed it. But the neighbors? Doing that? That was just selfishness, greed. It’s hard to trust in people after that.”

With a yank she pulled him closer again. Her affection had always been physical; not sexual, not necessarily, but she’d always been better at showing her feelings rather than telling them. He’d never been very good at either one. The first time she’d kissed him she’d surprised the fuck out of him; she’d grabbed at him like he was a ragdoll and had planted one right on him, forceful, not to be denied. He’d been so shocked by it he hadn’t known his ass from his head. He’d thought she disliked him! Asami had been easy that way. She was a pretty girl who asked him out, who took him to places to be seen, hauling him around like arm candy. He hadn’t minded, not really. Asami had always known what she’d wanted, and when she decided that he was what she wanted then she simply went for it. It was why she was such a successful businesswoman now. Her father hadn’t been a good man, but he’d passed along his work ethic, and she’d built herself back up from the bottom. He admired her. They would have never lasted as a couple; while he might applaud her dedication to work he didn’t think he could actually live with it, he loved having Wu around and would miss him horribly if he put in the kind of hours Asami did.

Korra, though. They’d started off pretty rocky and the whole romance thing hadn’t worked out for them but he trusted her, in ways that he didn’t trust anyone else in his life, not even his brother, not even his husband. Or Qi. He turned then, meeting her eyes and she reached out and gave his hand a quick squeeze. Sure, she had a few faint laugh lines around her eyes now and she’d kept her hair shorter, but she was still the same Korra that had first walked into the pro-bending arena, with that brash grin and her quick temper, always ready to lay it down.

“I’m glad you told me,” she said, and he scoffed.

“You sure about that? I just dumped all of it on you without warning. Sorry.”

She looked him right in the eyes over that one. “Yes, I’m sure, you asshole. Don’t you dare apologize.” She slugged him a good one on the shoulder and took it from an awkward moment back into a familiar, comfortable one.

“Fuck, I wish we had some more beer.”

“Oh, my friend, you are going to love the everliving shit out of me, then.” She leapt off the sofa and jogged back into the house as he leaned back and tried to steady his breathing. How many more times would he have to tell this story? To the kids when they were old enough? Would he be done telling it then? Korra came back into the courtyard, waving an unopened bottle of his favorite fire whiskey. “Looky what I’ve got here!”

“I love you,” he said, and he meant it.

“I love you too, dumbass,” she said, and dropped back down next to him, cracking the seal, shoving her shoulder into his, handing it over so he could take the first swig, and he took a good, deep swallow, relishing the burn. He handed it back to her and tugged his glove off, stretching out his hand. He’d been headed out the door when he realized he’d forgotten to pack his salve; he’d turned around to go and get it but Wu had known. Somehow. Fuck knew how but he’d given up years ago trying to figure out how Wu generally managed to stay one step ahead of him. He’d stood on his tiptoes for another kiss. _I made sure the salve was packed,_ he’d said into his ear. _Don_ _’t forget to put it on. Have fun and then come home to us._

Wu had known, too, that despite the seriousness of the work - dealing with a shitbag spirit out to make trouble wasn’t a joke, and to give him credit, Wu had never treated it that way - that he and Korra would, most likely, have a great time. He looked at her, wiping her mouth after her own swig of the whiskey, and scoffed. “I’m glad I’m here.”

“Yeah. Me too,” she said, and winked at him, sassy to the end.

They sat for a time, passing the bottle between them, him smoking another cigarette, the silence comfortable. They’d never had the ability to do this when they were going out; too busy butting heads or fucking to actually enjoy each other’s company, for the most part. After she’d come back from those years down south, trying to heal, after they’d dealt with the immediate aftermath of a new spirit portal and a city coming down around their ears, they’d found that they actually liked each other better when there wasn’t any sexual tension snarling things up and sabotaging their friendship. Not to mention he thought she and Asami were the best thing to ever happen to each other. They sat there, watching the sun sink into the sky, listening to the faint sounds of the village preparing itself for bed, before she finally spoke up.

“So. What did you tell Asami?”

“What did I tell Asami about what?”

“About this whole wedding thing.” He glanced over at her. She was sprawled on the sofa, her bare feet sticking out in front of her, the tribal tattoos on her biceps hardly showing in the dim light. “When she asked you about it, I mean.”

“I told her I thought it was okay.”

She shot him a look. “And that’s it?”

“What else do you want me to say? I think it’s okay. It bugged me at first because I thought Wu didn’t want me or that I wasn’t enough or something, but then Qi and I went to visit my folks and I had a long talk with my grandmother and my aunt and they filled me in on a lot of how things were in the Earth Kingdom and royalty and stuff and then it made sense to me.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, and Lady Chun - you know, Wu’s mother’s friend? - she hunted me down and gave me a kind of primer on it.” He winced. “You know, she’s a beautiful woman and seems all sort of soft and ladylike but in my experience you should never be fooled by women like that.”

“You mean like Nuo Beifong?”

He cracked a grin at that. “I was thinking more like Asami Sato, but sure.”

That got an amused snort out of her. “I’m going to tell her you said that.” He just shrugged and she gave him a shove, grinning in return. “Seriously, though. You’re really okay with it?”

“Yeah. I swear.”

She raised a placating hand. “Just wanted to make sure.” She rummaged in the wreckage of their dinner and popped something in her mouth, chewing and swallowing before throwing out, “So, you going to have another baby?” She’d gone for casual with her tone, but he wasn’t fooled.

He shrugged. “Qi doesn’t want to be pregnant, if that’s what you’re asking. And Wu’s too damn scared to have an actual by blood Hou-Ting baby, he thinks it would just rile up the Royalists more than they already are.”

“Eh, he’s got a point there.” She sniffed at one of the jars. “Here, take the last picken foot.” She handed it over and he fished it out. “What about you, though?”

“What about me?” His mouth was full, but Korra had never given a shit about that kind of thing. “Damn, these are good. I wonder if I could get a recipe for LoLo.”

“You want another baby?”

“I don’t know.” At her look, he sighed. “I mean, I wouldn’t turn one down.”

That set her off, throwing her head back with laughter. “You wouldn’t turn one down. Mako!”

“What! I’m just saying! I wouldn’t mind another baby, but you know, I’m not sure the opportunity is out there!” He kicked at her with his foot. “It’s not that funny.”

“It’s just the way you said it.” At his glare she simmered down. “Well, what about the orphanage?”

He grunted. “Yeah well. I guess we could. But neither Wu or Qi seem all that keen on it, so.” He leaned down and carefully gathered up his butts. “Plus I hate those fucking orphanages.” A glance. “What about you? You want a baby?”

“Eh…” She took another pull of the whiskey. “I like kids. I like yours and Bo’s a lot, I like hanging out with them. I always wished I had siblings, too, although I can’t really blame my parents for stopping with me. Having the Avatar as your daughter’s enough for anyone.” She shrugged. “Asami likes kids in pretty small doses and she’s got her hands full, running the business. If we were going to do it, we’d just end up having nannies and never seeing enough of them.” She handed over the bottle. “I’m gone a lot. I don’t think it would be fair. To the kids or myself.”

“Avatar Aang did it though.”

“Yeah well, he did it because Katara basically gave up everything to raise them, that’s why.” She frowned. “I wouldn’t do that to Asami. Expect her to give everything up just to stay home with kids? She’d hate it, and how could I blame her? She loves her work.” She gestured around the courtyard. “And it’s not like I can stay home anyhow and I’m sure as shit not going to drag kids along after me everywhere. I’m the Avatar. It is what it is.”

“Yeah.” They sat there for a time, waiting for the stars to come out. He was wrung out, flattened by all the emotion. He hadn’t even realized he’d sighed until Korra reached up and shoved his head down to rest on her shoulder. Things between them after she got back to Republic City had been a little uncomfortable at first; he’d been wary of any kind of physical contact when she and Asami had first gotten together, not wanting either one of them to think he was trying to revive something that was better off dead. A few months of that and Korra had marched right up to him and enfolded him into one of her rib-cracking hugs and told him to quit being an asshole, something that still made him smile to think about. There were so few people he felt comfortable enough to be physical with and he’d missed hugs from the both of them.

“So. This spirit.” She shifted, just slightly; when he went to move his head she shoved it back down again. Okay, then.

“Yeah?”

“It’s got a schedule, but in my experience some of them get a little show-offy when they know the Avatar’s in town, so don’t be surprised if it shows up early.”

“Got it.”

“I’ll try to talk to it first because, you know, the new and improved Avatar negotiation experience and all, but I have to tell you, that usually doesn’t work when it comes to certain spirits.” A snort. “Or human politicians, when it comes to that.” Another snort, even more emphatic. “Tenzin is always trying to point out to me how his father usually managed with negotiation, but I’m no air nomad and Aang pretty rarely dealt with spirits.”

“Good point.”

“Yeah, stick to your strengths. Kai’s pretty decent at negotiation, actually.”

He sat up to meet her eyes. “Maybe you should have brought him, then.” He wasn’t jealous. He meant it. He knew negotiation wasn’t his area, either. She shook her head, however.

“Nah, not on this trip. Different kind of spirit. I need someone who won’t hesitate to do whatever’s necessary. Kai usually wants to hold out on force as long as possible, but when you’ve got a spirit who’s fucking around the way this one is, they aren’t interesting in talking it out. I’m betting it’s going to come out swinging, and if I draw it, I’d like you to get on behind it, keep an eye on it, mitigate any damage. I’m not worried about myself, but sometimes they get pretty vindictive and I don’t want it taking it out on these people here. If we can keep it between us, keep it focused on us and our attacks, it most likely won’t have time to even think about going after the village.”

“Got it.”

Her grin flashed in the slowly purpling dusk. “Yeah, I know you do. That’s why I brought you.” She stretched extravagantly, her spine creaking with the effort. “Well, we should probably try to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning we can go and get the lay of the land, see if there’s somewhere safer we can draw it out that isn’t in the middle of town or someone’s fields.” He started to rise, but she put a hand on his arm, her voice quiet. “Thank you for telling me about your parents. For trusting me.”

He nodded. “You’re my best friend. Of course I trust you.”

She shoved at his hip, hard enough to make him stagger. “Shit. Don’t make me start crying again. I’ll ruin my makeup.” He grinned at that and grabbed her hand to yank her up. “Asshole,” she said, the affection in her voice telling him that everything was square between them again.

“You’re the asshole,” he replied, and dodged the foot she sent his way with a laugh.


End file.
